HOBOKEN — Lupo the dog, a mascot for Giovanni D’Italia’s Shoe Repair on Garden Street in Hoboken, has passed away. In the last few months, Giovanni D’Italia has placed ads in the Reporter thanking customers for their support as the 10-year-old dog battled tumors. Lupo remained in the window of the store, happily greeting customers. Some believed that the daily greetings kept him going.
From a story that ran in the Reporter two months ago:
D’Italia said it is hard to say how long the 10-year-old dog will live. While he has two tumors, his death is not imminent. His veterinarian just said it was time to make him more comfortable.
Last week, Lupo calmly watched passers by from the window of the shop, among his toys and balls.
D’Italia said he bought the dog 10 years ago as an eight-week-old puppy from a branch of the New York Kennel Club in New Jersey.
Now that the dog is retiring, he won’t be at the 49-year-old shop every day. But he will still be in the building, as D’Italia owns it and lives there.
“He stays here every day, all day long,” D’Italia said.
Then, Lupo posed for photos with his owner as he always has, and customers are still free to come by and visit him – he just may not be there every day now that he is a senior citizen.