In June 2019, Beth Chapman, the wife of Dog the Bounty Hunter, died from cancer at the age of 51. This was obviously a big loss not only for Dog but for their daughter, Bonnie Chapman.
Since Beth’s death, Dog remarried, but while you may be able to replace a spouse, you can’t really replace a parent. Bonnie, who is 24, kept her mother’s ashes in the home she and her boyfriend were renting in Fishersville, Virginia.
On Tuesday April 25, 2023, Bonnie received a shocking call when she was at work. She hoped that the news wasn’t true.
Bonnie told TMZ, “While I was at work, I got a call that said my house was on fire, and immediately, I packed up my things and left work as quick as I could. I thought that maybe it was a mistake. I thought that maybe it was a house next to us.” Unfortunately, it really was Bonnie’s rental home that was on fire.
Even more devastating, all six of her beloved pets were inside. Bonnie explained, “When I arrived at the scene, the fire chief initially told me they had found two cats and that they were looking for any other animals.” They were eventually able to find all six of her pets, but none of them survived. She shared, “They were all without injury, but they passed due to smoke inhalation.”
In addition to losing her pets in the fire, Bonnie also lost almost all of her belongings including “some of the photos from my mother and some of the belongings of hers.”
One of Bonnie’s biggest concerns was losing her mother’s ashes. Thankfully, she was able to salvage those as well as a few of her mother’s pictures and belongings.
Bonnie’s one consolation after the fire is thinking about her late mother being reunited and hopefully comforted by her pets, especially her cat Plum. Bonnie explained that Plum was her mother’s “favorite.” She added, “I hope my mom is really happy to have Plum with her because that cat helped her through everything.”
Bonnie shared the sad news about the house fire and her pets’ passing on Instagram explaining that her pets “meant the world to me.” She added, “I cherished every moment I spent with these babies and am devastated that I wasn’t able to save them. I would have given my life for any of them.”
Bonnie does not plan to start a GoFundMe, but she does plan to keep the memory of her pets alive by commissioning paintings of them as a way of remembering them and honoring them. She called her pets “her life.”