After much anticipation, Brian receives an invitation to an award ceremony celebrating his novel, Faster Than the Speed of Love, by the Rhode Island Society for Special Literary Excellence, convincing him that he is a great writer, until he discovers that all the book club’s members are literally “special.” Brian decides to drown his sorrows at the local bar and drives home drunk at night, accidentally running over and killing a dog. He secretly buries the dead dog’s body outside the Griffin’s home and tries to keep quiet about it, but Stewie, having witnessed his deed and toying with his guilt, convinces him to confess, after pretending to be the owner of the dog over the phone.

However, when Brian does confess to Joe and the Griffin family, they all begin to laugh, saying that no one cares if a dog is killed, especially by another animal. Outraged, Brian starts a support group entitled The Quahog Animal Equal Rights League, to convince the town that the life of animals should be of equal value to humans, but no one is keen on changing their lifestyles if it means no processed meats and medical research. Refusing to listen any further, they chase after Brian in an attempt to eat him, after he mentions how dogs are eaten in some cultures, which unintentionally sparks their interest in how they taste.

After much thought, Brian finally concludes that his life is worthless if no one cares about the lives of animals, and falls into a deep depression. Seeing Brian’s state, Stewie takes Brian’s collar and successfully fakes Brian’s death by placing his collar on a stray, and killing it in a liquor store fire. The Griffins are devastated upon learning about Brian’s supposed “death,” and realize how close a friend he was to them. Seeing this, Stewie rushes to show Brian how much the Griffins still care about him, regardless of his species. This cheers him up, though, by the end, Brian remains hidden to let the Griffins grieve a little longer.

Meanwhile, Quagmire accidentally knocks over a carton of Kool-Aid mix on the kitchen floor of the Griffin’s house and leaves Peter to take the blame. Frustrated with having to clean Peter’s messes, Lois hires a Hispanic maid named Consuela to clean their house. Consuela, however, quickly proves to be very stubborn, refusing to leave after her work hours and sleeping at the Griffins’ house overnight. Annoyed, Peter and Lois try to fire her and even bribe her to leave, but she still refuses. In a last-ditch attempt, Peter finally manages to get rid of her by tricking her into inhaling chloroform on a handkerchief, and leaves her in a basket on Joe’s front porch.

“Dog Gone” is the eighth episode of the eighth season of the Fox animated comedy Family Guy. It aired on November 29, 2009 on FOX.

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