Dog of Death

Frank Welker as Santa's Little Helper

"Dog of Death" is the nineteenth episode of The Simpsons' third season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 12, 1992. In the episode, Santa's Little Helper falls ill and the Simpson family must make budget cuts in order to pay for his operation. Although the dog's life is saved, the family begins to feel the strain of their sacrifices and starts treating him badly, causing him to run away. Santa's Little Helper ends up in the possession of Mr. Burns, who trains him to become a vicious attack dog. Several days later, Bart stumbles upon the trained Santa's Little Helper and is attacked, but the dog eventually recognizes his old friend and stops.

The episode was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Jim Reardon. The writers enjoyed the previous episodes centered on Santa's Little Helper and decided to create another one, which resulted in "Dog of Death". The episode features numerous references to popular culture, including the films The Incredible Journey and A Clockwork Orange, and the short story The Lottery. Since airing, the episode has received positive reviews from television critics. It acquired a Nielsen rating of 14.2 and was the highest-rated show on the Fox network the week it aired.

Springfield is "in the grip of lottery fever" with a $130 million jackpot and, as a result, no one in the Simpson family notices that their pet dog, Santa's Little Helper, has become ill. Once the dog is discovered to be sick, the family rushes him to the animal hospital, where they learn that he needs an emergency operation to cure gastric dilatation volvulus which will cost $750. Homer is saddened to tell his children, Bart and Lisa, that the family cannot afford the operation. However, after seeing how much everyone loves the dog, especially Bart, he decides to find a way to pay for it.