50 Movie Death Scenes That Left You TRAUMATISED
5. Old Yeller - Old Yeller
Marley & Me isn't the only movie to tell the story of a family falling in love with a dog only to have to see its final moments before the credits roll.
51 years before Marley came Old Yeller, who was quite the opposite of the excitable Labrador. While the former was wrecking the house and getting kicked out of puppy training, Old Yeller was defending his family from wild animal attacks.
It was from one of these attacks however, where the family's loyal and trusting dog contracted rabies. He became aggressive to the point that there was no question he was unwell, and the family was forced to accept that he had to be put down.
Unlike how John and Jenny took Marley to the vets when the time came however, Travis (Tommy Kirk), the eldest son of Old Yeller's family, handled it himself with a shotgun. The way the music built to a tense crescendo, and the sudden silence in the air that was before filled with the dog's growls, made the scene utterly brutal to watch.