iZombie: Rob Thomas explains that 'Minor' dog abandonment scene

One thing has been dogging iZombie viewers since last week’s episode. Why oh why would Major — who up until now has been fairly beloved, with the exception of killing and freezing a few zombies — leave his adorable (albeit stolen) pup Minor on a bus? Babineaux and Bozzio were hot on his trail once they were able to track the dog’s embedded microchip via GPS, but surely Major could’ve found a little extra time to drop Minor off at a shelter or leave him on a nice-looking family’s doorstep.

“He certainly believed that the police were going to find that dog in minutes,” iZombie co-creator Rob Thomas tells EW, noting that at the time Major didn’t know if the tracker was embedded under Minor’s skin or on his collar, so the clock was ticking. “I wanted a heartbreaking moment that would be hard on Major — to give up a dog both he and Ravi had grown very fond of,” he says. “We even made a point to have Clive mention that the dog was found.” [Ed note: I missed this moment, and I think a lot of people did, too.]

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Apparently it wasn’t enough, and fans took to social media to register their displeasure. Did Thomas anticipate viewers might turn on Major? “We were conscious of it, which is why we made sure to point out that the dog was safe. There were writers who said: Maybe if we could see a scene where we see Minor with people and being pet …” Thomas says. “I thought: Are you kidding me?”

They weren’t, and audiences reacted the same way. “I’m a dog person. I have a dog. I love dogs,” Thomas says. “Diane, who co-created the show with me was one of the writers in the room saying, ‘It’s going to bug people. We need to see the dog in a happy home.’ And I’m like, ‘We’re not going to shoot a scene with the dog being pet.’ Apparently I was wrong. A happy person holding the dog probably would’ve avoided this.”

The happy ending we will get: Our favorite fuzzy friend will return. Minor is still due a major moment. “It’s not the last we hear of Minor. That storyline does come back,” says Thomas. “And the audience will get more information on the dog moving forward.”

iZombie airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.