Laura Bush: Former First Lady’s Dog Miss Beazley Dies, Bush Family Mourns

Laura Bush, wife of George W. Bush and former first lady, is mourning along with the Bush family after announcing the death of her (and the White House’s) pet dog, Miss Beazley.

Miss Beazley, a purebred Scottish terrier, was a birthday gift from President Bush to Laura Bush in 2004. In 2005 she moved to the White House aged just ten months. The Scottish terrier also had a blood relative, Barney, which was given as a gift to Laura by her husband in the year 2000.

Laura Bush said in a statement on Saturday: “This weekend our beloved dog, Miss Beazley, was put to rest after a battle with lymphoma. She was a source of joy during our time in Washington and in Dallas.”

Some reports say that Miss Beazley was nine at the time of her death but other reports say she was actually ten. Laura Bush continued to talk in the statement about Miss Beazley’s relationship with her brother Barney as well as the fact that she was a guardian to the family’s cats:

She was a close companion to her blood relative, Barney. And even though he received all the attention, Beazley never held a grudge against him. She was a guardian to our cats, Bob and Bernadette, who — like Laura and I — will miss her.

Sadly Barney passed away in 2003, but during his life he was so loved and so popular that the White House dedicated a website, Barney.gov, to him and Miss Beazley which featured photos and videos of the dogs.

In 2005, the White House presented a video in December called A Very Beazley Christmas in which the White House was portrayed from a dog’s point of view. Laura Bush‘s Miss Beazley was named after the character Uncle Beazley who was a dinosaur in Oliver Butterworth’s children’s book, The Enormous Egg.