A devoted dog owner was so heartbroken when her beloved bull terrier passed away that she got his ashes inked permanently into her skin, so that he’s ‘always with her’. Robyn Moscrop rescued her bull terrier Bronson back in 2019 who she ‘spoilt rotten’ - as the crazy pooch with a big personality was dressed up, cradled and treated ‘like a baby’.
The 27-year-old was devastated when her pampered pet suddenly died last July from unknown causes when he was only around the age of three. To commemorate her very special dog, the real estate broker manager’s tattooist boyfriend, 28-year-old George Ricketts, immortalised her favourite portrait of him - with his ashes mixed into the ink.
The animal lover said her new body art provided her with a sense of closure given it means Bronson’s ‘always with his mum’ and will never be forgotten as he’s tattooed on her for life.
Robyn, of Birmingham, said: "Having his ashes on me means that he's always going to be with me, no matter what. It's not something I could lose or misplace, it's always there. Seeing it when it was done was really emotional, I did have a cry.
"Sometimes I talk to it [the tattoo] as though I talk to him. It sounds silly really but sometimes when we're at places and say I'm just wearing a t-shirt, I just think 'oh, he's here with me and seeing all this too'.
"It was a bit of closure that I thought 'he's always with his mum now’. I can look down to see him and he'll never ever be forgotten because he's there on me for life."
Robyn grew up with bull terriers and loves the breed so much that when she wanted her own pet, she decided to rescue Bronson. Not much was known about his history other than he was a stray, deaf and was around one when he was rescued.
Robyn said: "He was a crazy dog. He made such an impression on everyone because he had such a personality. He just kept me really busy and I'd see other people with their really well-behaved dogs and I'd be thinking 'oh my god, why can my dog not be like that?'
"But I still absolutely loved him, he was spoilt rotten. He'd have a sheep skin on his bed and crate and he had all Laura Ashley blankets, I treated him like a baby.
"He'd sit on my lap like a baby and I’d cradle him, even though he was absolutely huge. He loved to be dressed up as well. I'd dress him up for Halloween and he'd have hats and crowns for his birthday. He had his own social calendar. He'd go on playdates where we'd hire fields out and let 20 bull terriers off the lead for them all to play. He honestly had such an incredible life."
Robyn had only had Bronson for around two-and-a-half years when he suddenly passed away on July 10th last year. Robyn said: "He was my first dog that I had on my own as my first pet and he was really special to me.
"It was awful when he passed away and I found it really, really difficult. All my family and friends just couldn't believe it when it happened. He's always all over my social media so everyone knew him really well and he's met so many people.
"We'd take him out to the local bars and cafes and everyone knew who he was. Even people who didn't know me personally would stop and say, 'there's Bronson' he was really well known in the area that we live in.
"He certainly left an impression on a lot of people. I had him cremated and it was there where the woman who ran the cremation said 'oh, I'll take some of his paw prints and I've heard that you can have ashes put into a tattoo'. I'd never heard of that before. I told my boyfriend and he said 'yeah, I have heard artists have done it' and that he'd love to do it for me."
Robyn had her tattoo done in December 2021, which took around eight hours to create. The dog lover is part of a bull terrier walking group and a memorial walk for Benson is organised each year in a nearby park to raise money for the charity that he was adopted from.
She has since adopted another bull terrier, two-year-old Alabama. Robyn said: "If I didn't have my new dog, I'd find it really hard to speak about him.
"But since I've got Alabama, she's kind of filled that hole that he's left and made it a lot easier to heal because it is awful losing your dog. The portrait I had of him is from my favourite photo of him - you can see on his expression that he's so happy and his eyes are sparkling.
"My boyfriend was like 'this is serious pressure, I need to make sure I get it right' but as you can see, he's done an absolutely fantastic job. I'd absolutely recommend it to someone who's considering it.
"The rest of my tattoos are all meaningless - they're just designs that I like but it's really nice to have something that does mean a lot to me. I do think it's a really nice way for people who like tattoos to remember someone by having the ashes mixed in, it's really special. It's like having a part of them in you and with you."
