Gene Hackman and wife Betsy were ‘true animal lovers, known for treating their beloved dogs ‘as if they were their own children’, before being found dead in their New Mexico home last week, friends tell DailyMail.com.
News of their mysterious deaths has left friends, fans, and the local community baffled after it was revealed the couple was found lifeless on the floor along with a deceased German Shepherd. Their two other dogs were found alive at the property.
Investigators have not yet determined a cause of death, however, animal advocates who knew the family say Hackman was a ‘softy’ and he and Betsy were devoted dog owners who ‘would never, ever put them in harm’s way’.
‘Gene was what I would call a confirmed German Shepherd aficionado. I could not imagine him without a Shepherd,’ Steff Smith, the founder of the Southwest German Shepherd Society in Phoenix, Arizona told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.
‘He was also a major softy. I recall him shedding tears upon meeting the first dog he adopted from us.’
Hackman, 95, and wife Betsy Arakawa, 64, ended up adopting two dogs from the shelter in the early 2000s and remained longtime supporters and friends of the non-profit, according to Smith.
Smith first met the couple in 2005, when they were looking for a new friend for Hackman’s German Shepherd, Duke, who the actor famously adopted as a stray while he was filming The Replacements in 1999.
Smith arranged for a meet-up at a park in order to assess Duke’s interaction with Maisie, a young female German Shepherd, who quickly became a member of the Hackman family.
‘They brought their dog Duke with them. They were staying at a high-end resort in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area and contacted me,’ explained Smith.
‘Betsy could certainly hold her own with the big dogs and was committed to their health and care. If one presented so much as a hang nail, they would get a full work-up.
‘The word that comes to mind when I think of Betsy is warm, a genuinely warm and giving, yet sharp lady,’ Smith fondly recalled.
‘We communicated for years, exchanging pictures, Maisie and Duke playing on the property, swimming, playing with each other, you name it.
‘When you share your life with a German Shepherd it’s much more like having a roommate, than a pet. They are all about their person.’
Two years later in 2007, the couple returned after their beloved Duke died.
‘It gave you an indication that Gene could not be without a dog that he lost very long at all.’
Enter Roscoe, a handsome male German Shepherd who became Maisie’s new bestie.
Smith shared photos of that day with DailyMail.com where Roscoe was introduced to the Hackman family who were all smiles with the arrival of their new pup.
‘We stayed in touch and remained long-distance friends. You could not meet two nicer, kinder people,’ the German Shepherd expert told DailyMail.com.
Gene had adopted Duke back in 1999 while working on the movie The Replacements in Baltimore after two stray German Shepherds were found wandering inside the Raven’s Stadium where they had been filming.
Phil Staelens still remembers the day two dogs arrived at his Pennsylvania-based animal organization, in a limousine provided by the actor, himself.
‘These two German Shepherds were about one or two years old. We named them Gene and Keanu.
‘Gene ended up adopting one of the dogs, the one named Gene, but he actually renamed him Duke, in honor of his close friend John Wayne,’ said Staelens who with his wife Grace Froelich founded Animal Rescue, Inc. in New Freedom, Pennsylvania in 1978.
The other pup, Keanu, was adopted by another loving family Staelens told DailyMail.com.
‘They were very humble people. They were very nice. Gene was just like a regular person. He didn’t want anything special’ said Staelens.
‘Betsy even ended up volunteering here while they were filming. She scooped up poop, she did it all.’
The popular Animal Rescue, Inc. is home to some 500 dogs and cats, all available for adoption.
The non-profit has been a refuge for homeless animals for nearly 50 years and a leader in their cat spay and neuter program.
‘The manner of their passing makes the loss all the more painful,’ added Smith who revealed that the Hackman house had a doggy door which allowed the pets to go outside.
As far as the use of a dog crate, their pet could have been older and/or had a medical challenge.
‘The Hackmans treated their dogs as if they were their children and would never, ever put them in harm’s way,’ Smith told DailyMail.com.
‘And they always adopted rescues, that says a lot about them. True animal lovers, and the kindest of people.’
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