Judge Rinder’s faithful French Bulldog Rocco dies
Unique among canines, he was a JN columnist with a gift for prose and will be missed, but most of all by dad, Robert
Brigit Grant is the Jewish News Supplements Editor
It has been a week since Rocco Rinder died. The French bull dog who belonged to TV Judge Robert passed away suddenly following a seizure.
Robert posted the news immediately on Twitter and Instagram to his thousands of followers, saying: “My Rocco died suddenly yesterday. He blessed me with a lifetime of loyalty & limitless joy. I don’t speak about my private world normally. But wanted to share my profound sadness with anybody who has ever loved a dog. It is the deepest gift of unconditional love imaginable”
His sad post with a photo of Rocco met with sympathy from more than 37,570 people, many of whom were unaware that Rocco was a regular contributor as canine columnist on JN’s pet page. As the dog of a celebrity who shone on Strictly Come Dancing and received an MBE for his services to Holocaust education, Rocco led a dog’s life like no other. In his column for The Standard, owner Robert has often written about his dog, admitting that his “little fat Frenchie was unashamedly spoilt.”
Robert blamed his generosity on being a first-time parent, but the doting on the pup continued and it was mutual. “He listens to my plonking on the piano in rapture, is always thrilled to see me and never judges my outfits (though he judges everyone else’s),” wrote Rob about the dog he inherited from the Manchester-based previous owner. A pedigree with papers to prove it, Rocco was invited to be a columnist for Jewish News in October 2021 and began his first entry with a warning about his tendency to slip in to legal jargon.”It impacts on me, so apologies if I slip into court jargon. Under normal circumstances, a clerk would say ‘All rise’ when I enter a room,” revealed Rocco, which was the result of living with a judge.
An avid viewer (when awake) of Strictly when Robert was a contestant, Rocco wrote with heartfelt admiration about his Russian-speaking owner’s dash to Ukraine with World Jewish Relief in April to report on the exodus of Ukranians with their pets to safety in Poland. That he was also able to locate the family of his former Strictly dance partner Oksana Platero and look after them was a personal victory to which Rocco added: “To see children and animals in the arms of their loved ones being forced to find refuge in other countries makes me realise how fortunate I am.” All evidence suggests Judge Rinder believed he was very fortunate too.
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