EastEnders' new family arrivals the Taylors brought along their pet dog Bronson with them when they set up home in Albert Square earlier this year, but now a bout of poor health has meant that Bronson (played by Cyrus) will be recast for his scenes on the soap going forward.
Cyrus has been unavailable to film recently, with The Sun reporting the dog underwent a knee operation last month, and the part has now be recast.
Cyrus's agent and Animal Ambassadors Director Kay Weston considers it not to be in the animal's best welfare to continue work on the soap.
According to The Sun, the decision came as a shock to Cyrus' owner Caroline King, who believed the dog would be able to return to film new scenes next month.
"It's cruel, he's been treated unfairly," she told the publication. "It's a ridiculous decision because Cyrus is 100 per cent trustworthy and reliable.
Bronson the dog in EastEnders
© BBC/KIERON MCCARRON
[Cyrus as Bronson]
"I was led to believe he'd be able to come back. But the agent rang on Thursday to say the back-up dog was fantastic.
"She said it was entirely her decision — I'm really angry."
However, in a statement responding to those comments, Kay insisted Cyrus was replaced because he was unable to work and that she made the decision based on Cyrus' welfare.
"At no point was Cyrus 'pushed out' of his job," Kay told Digital Spy. "Cyrus was unavailable to work for over six weeks due to poor health and was therefore replaced, which is not uncommon in a long running show.
"However after careful consideration and, in my over 25 years professional experience, Cyrus returning to a continuing drama is not in the best welfare for the animal, or the production, and that is by far the most important thing."
An EastEnders spokesperson also backed the decision, adding in a statement: "It is not uncommon in a continuing drama for an animal to be recast.
"The welfare of the animals we use is extremely important to us and therefore we would always take the advice of experts to advise and assist on which animal to work with."
Don't understand why they don't include illnesses of pets in the show and how they need operations and time to recover and all that is connected with it .. rather than pets suddenly becoming ill and next moment they need to be put down ... I think it would show a lot of people how much commitment there is when you take on a pet and what can be involved .... they would not necessarily have to show them but refer to them before op, after op, how they are recovering ....
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