The tragic circumstances surrounding the death of John McCain's beloved dog Burma, who stayed at his side as the late Arizona senator battled a brain tumor, have been revealed.
The Chesapeake Bar Retriever drowned after becoming stuck in a pipe on the McCain's estate in Hidden Valley ranch in Arizona last month - having developed 'weird' behaviour following the death of her owner John McCain eight months ago.
Speaking to The Arizona Republic yesterday Cindy McCain, 63, the widow of John McCain, said: 'It's weird — she had never done this before — she ran into a pipe.'
Family and friends tried to free the much-loved dog from the pipe linking a series of ponds on the property, but were unable to free her from the debris until her body washed out from the other end.
John McCain's pet Chesapeake Bay retriever Burma has passed away on the family's Hidden Valley ranch in Arizona, Cindy McCain announced on Monday
Mrs McCain added: 'You know, we have a series of ponds on our property ... and she ran into the pipe and she got stuck.
'She drowned, and eventually, her body came out the other end of the pipe.'
The five-year-old dog was a birthday gift to war veteran in 2014 as a puppy and remained loyal until the end as McCain battled brain cancer.
In an interview with NBC Nightly News in April Mrs McCain described the tragic and gruesome circumstances of Burma's death.
Meghan McCain lamented the pup's passing saying she was a birthday president to the former Arizona senator in 2014 and was 'absolutely and truly devoted to him'
She said: 'the pipe had debris in it evidently, and we couldn't get her out, or the people that take care of the place tried at both ends, risked their own lives, to try to get her out, and they couldn't do it.'
'I told my friends it was a bit like losing him [her husband] all over again, she was what I had left of him.'
McCain and his wife often posted pictures and videos playing around with Burma on their ranch.
His daughter Meghan McCain shared a picture of former senator McCain
