LONGVILLE, Minn. – For years, Bruno traveled to Longville. On Monday, Longville traveled to Bruno.
A memorial of flowers, drawings and doggie treats grew at the statue in downtown Longville erected years ago to honor the town’s most famous canine.
“They’ve been leaving this for Bruno today,” said Bruno’s owner, Deb LaVallee as she read the notes left for her dog.
For 14 years, Bruno made the four-mile daily trek down highway 84 from his rural home to visit his human friends in town.
Some businesses left out water dishes, others opened their doors and allowed Bruno to rest in their lobbies for a while. The workers at the grocery store kept deli scraps for Bruno’s appearances at their back door.
On Sunday morning Bruno was on his way to town when he was hit and killed by car. The driver was on her way to church.
“She’s devastated,” said Beth Tobiason, who attended the same Sunday service. “She couldn’t even make it through church.”
Deb LaVallee and her husband Larry wanted the driver to know there are no hard feelings.
“We went and visited her and told her it wasn’t her fault,” Deb said.
The LaVallees say they are touched by hundreds of condolence messages left on social media, many of them on Bruno’s Facebook page.
A few comments were critical, suggesting Bruno should not have been roaming free.
The LaVallee initially tried tying Bruno up, but say he nearly choked himself to death trying to get to town.
Over time, they gave up on chaining their wandering pup.
“That would have been cruel,” Larry said.
“He wouldn’t have turned out to be Bruno that we all loved,” Deb added.
Pat Moran, a Longville Real Estate agent, agrees.
“He was just that free and loose spirit and that’s what he loved to do,” said Moran, “and everybody loved that he did it.”
The LaVallees buried Bruno in their yard. They placed a wooden cross above his grave, onto which the hung Bruno’s collar.
“You can’t help but be happy for the life he lived,” said Levi LaVallee, Larry and Deb’s son. “Pretty amazing.”