Wendy and Mark Buterbaugh say it’s a pain they navigate daily after the life of their beloved dog Reign was tragically cut short.

“It’s hard,” Wendy Buterbaugh said. “I keep waiting for it to get better and it doesn’t.”

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Reign, a decorated show dog at the age of 2, died in August 2025. Investigators said the dog was left in the back of a car on a hot summer day.

“Reign deserved more,” Wendy Buterbaugh said. “She mattered. She mattered not just in that show world, she mattered to us as a family member. She mattered.”

Wendy Buterbaugh Wendy Buterbaugh A picture of Reign

Carissa Shimpeno – the professional handler who the Buterbaughs hired to take care of Reign – is now facing charges. Before Reign’

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