The death of Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa’s dog is still under investigation, officials said Friday as they revealed the doomed pooch had undergone a medical procedure shortly before she died.
Arakawa had picked up Zinna, a 12-year-old Australian Kelpie mixed-breed, from a Santa Fe veterinary office on Feb. 9, one of Arakawa’s last acts before she died of Hantavirus, a rare flu-like disease linked to rodents.
The classical pianist died in a bathroom two days later and Hackman, who was suffering from advanced Alzheimer’s, lived with her dead body for another week before succumbing to heart problems.
When their bodies were ultimately found on Feb. 26, Zinna was also found dead in a crate in the bathroom.
“There was a procedure that was done with the dog, which may explain why the dog was in a crate at the residence,” Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said at a press conference Friday.
It’s not clear what procedure Zinna received or how she ultimately died. Officials are awaiting necropsy results.
It “is a possibility,” however, that the dog died from dehydration or starvation, said New Mexico Chief Medical Examiner Heather Jarrell.
Dogs are not known to get infected with Hantavirus but they could bring infected rodents into the home.
Hantavirus is carried by rodents and can be transmitted to humans through animal excrement. Officials detected signs of rodent entry in the Hackman’s mansion but determined the risk was relatively low.
“Dogs do not get sick from Hantavirus,” said Jarrell.
Zinna, who was once trained in agility skills in hopes of one day competing in the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, was one of Hackman and Arakawa’s three beloved pooches that lived in the couple’s sprawling multi-million dollar estate.
The other two — Bear, a German shepherd, and Nikita, a German shepherd mix — survived and were found going in and out of the property.
Initially, police incorrectly reported that Bear was the doomed pooch locked in the crate.
On Feb. 11, Arakawa’s suspected last day alive, she was spotted on surveillance footage at a local pet store stocking up for the dogs.
The musician and Zinna were found in the same bathroom on Feb. 26, where an open prescription bottle and pills were spotted scattered on the counter.
Hackman was discovered in the home’s mud room, near his cane and sunglasses.
“The French Connection” star’s pacemaker indicates he likely died on Feb. 17, with Jarrell confirming he died from hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and from Alzheimer’s.
“It is quite possible that he was not aware that she was deceased,” said Jarrell.
Hackman and Arakawa, who met in the 1980s and married in 1991, had become notoriously private and insular and it was not uncommon for them to go long stretches without speaking to friends and family – so no alarm bells were raised by their lack of contact in the time after they died.
A frail-looking Hackman – who has spoken about how his heart issues led to his retirement – was last publicly seen going into a medical appointment in March 2024.