Dexter the emotional support peacock has died, leaving a void ‘no one will ever fill’

In the end, the death of the peacock famously banned from an airplane flew under the radar.

Dexter, the emotional support peacock who enjoyed viral fame, “passed away in his favorite human’s arms” on July 22, his owner announced Tuesday on Instagram.

“His passing was sudden and unexpected. Attempts were made to save him, but his doctor confirmed that nothing could have been done to alter his fate.”

Dexter belonged to Brooklyn artist and photographer Ventiko, and he owed his fame to her.

United Airlines banned the peacock from boarding a flight from Newark to Los Angeles with her in January, even though Ventiko called the bird her support animal.

“Their story set off a debate about emotional support animals: Where is the line? Who gets to draw it?” wrote the Los Angeles Times

At the time, a United spokesman told People that the airline had asked Ventiko several times to not bring Dexter with her.

“The animal did not meet United’s guidelines for a number of reasons, including its weight and size,” United spokesman Charlie Hobart told People.

Dexter’s case led other airlines, including American and Delta, to crack down on policies regarding emotional support animals on airplanes, according to the Chicago Tribune.

When they couldn’t get on the plane, Ventiko traveled west with Dexter in a car, “On the Road style, documenting pit stops from Indianapolis to the Santa Fe Railyard Park on Dexter’s Instagram,” recalls Vice.

A social media star was born.

Dexter leaves behind more than 17,000 Instagram followers.

“Like so many unconventional relationships,” the Times wrote earlier this year, Ventiko found Dexter through a Craigslist ad in 2014 while she was preparing an installation for the annual Art Basel show in Miami Beach.

She bought Dexter and another peacock named Etta for $200 from an attorney in Florida, the Times reported.

She and Dexter formed an instant bond and after a few bumps along the way they eventually moved in together in a 950-square-foot loft in Brooklyn, according to the Times.

“It’s impossible to describe our relationship in words,” Ventiko told Vice in an Instagram message upon Dexter’s passing. “Visualize your interpretation of magic and that’s what we had. Nothing and no one will ever fill the void he has left behind.”

In Dexter’s Instagram obituary, Ventiko wrote that he “defied stereotypes and brought joy and magic to all who encountered him. It was an honor to know him and a privilege to share this life journey with him.

“He never let fame, adoration or his prodigious number of followers on social media inflate his ego, and he loved working the camera with grace and humility.”

This story was originally published August 15, 2018 at 10:09 AM with the headline "Dexter the emotional support peacock has died, leaving a void ‘no one will ever fill’."