An 86-year-old woman has been devastated following the death of her little dog Button who bolted when a firework was thrown by teenagers as he was being walked near them.
After a four day search the one-year-old Shih Tzu was found on a nearby beach but volunteers who spent four days hunting for him, were left distraught by news that he had passed away.
The death of the faithful companion and best friend of pensioner Gillian, has now triggered a petition calling for the banning reports Chronicle Live.
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The incident happened during an early evening walk on Foxhunters Playing Field in North Shields, and Gillian’s granddaughter Kay, 31, said :“He was her best friend, he was her moral support. He made sure she had a cheery little face to keep her going. He was everything to her.
"I’ve never seen her rocked so hard in my life. She wasn’t in a great place because of her health at the moment, and Button was her comfort - now he’s gone and she’s just a mess.”
"Whilst Button was my granny’s little best friend, he was a family member to all of us. All of us are just absolutely devastated - because of the loss to ourselves, but because of the effect on my gran as well.”
The family got Button as a puppy and say he brought joy to everyone he met. Kay said: “He was the most mischievous little thing. He had such a big personality for being such a little dog.
“Even when he was a menace, he was absolute perfection. We couldn’t have been more blessed with him.
“He was a friendly, loving, caring little pup - and he was very responsive to my gran,” she added. “When she wasn’t well, even though he wasn’t allowed on the bed, he would sneak on to check on her. He was basically her little nursemaid.”
After Button ran away on October 23 the family started a huge search along the coast in a bid to find the pup.
Kay said: “I think I covered 30 miles between Sunday evening and collecting his body from the beach on Tuesday."
After news of Button’s disappearance was shared on Facebook, locals began to get involved in the search - leaving the family completely blown away by the support from people they had never met. Kay said more than 600 people got in touch via Facebook to offer their help or well wishes.
She said: "It was incredible. I was out in hedgerows with torches and I had cars pulling up, with people that I’d never seen before asking where they could be looking. I’ve never known so many people rally around a cause.
“We’ve been overwhelmed by the kindness of people - hundreds have given their time, energy and resources just to help us because they could relate to what it would feel like. So despite everything, the outpouring of human kindness has been so reassuring - we’re so grateful to everybody.”
Despite a huge effort from the local community, the search for Button ended with the discovery of his body and Kay was called to collect his body from the beach on Tuesday. Two women even carried out a last act of kindness for the poor dog and his family when they found Button on the shore.
“The two ladies who called when they found him on the seafront - I was hysterical picking him up, and I don't even know if I managed words or just wailed at them, bless them. But they went to the effort of getting a towel for his dignity, and then stood guard until we arrived, which can’t have been easy.”
The support has continued in the aftermath of Button’s death, with neighbours checking in on Gillian after the sad news and she had received flowers too. They are lending their support too to a new petition set up by the family calling to ban fireworks in Button's name, so that no other family is torn apart by the loss of a pet.
Kay said: "It’s changed everyone’s lives - just one reckless, thoughtless action. They had a couple of minutes of entertainment, and now a whole family’s got god knows how long to rebuild from a tragedy that should never have happened.”
The family hopes that even if the petition doesn’t lead to fireworks being banned, sharing the story of Button will at least encourage people to think twice.
Kay explained: “I don’t think for a second that the people who set off the fireworks intended that outcome - I just don’t think they thought it through. But we want to highlight how important it is to be careful, look at who’s around you, and think about what could happen.
“I realise that we’re probably not going to stop them - and we don’t want to stop anyone celebrating, especially when life is so miserable. But if we can get one more person to behave responsibly, then that’s a huge outcome.”
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