A border collie owner was reduced to tears by the "humility and grace" by the amazing turnout from other dog lovers who gave her beloved pet a poignant final walk before she had to be put down.
Sarah Keith, 44, from Hull, told how she wanted her 12-year-old dog Ella to have a last trip to her favourite beach with other dogs after being diagnosed with oral cancer.
So she posted on social media on Saturday to ask others to join her for the day out at Fraisthorpe beach, East Yorkshire, on Monday.
And she was amazed when more than 30 dogs with their owners greeted her on the sands after her touching message was shared more than 1,200 times.
Tearful Sarah said Ella, who also suffered from arthritis, loved charging about with other dogs before she was put to sleep just a few hours later.
She said: “There were people who I’d never met them. You don’t know who they are. But it’s lovely they showed a bit of humility and grace when something like this happens.
“The only time I cried was when someone hugged me. There was also a lady that made a hand-stitched keepsake.
“And there was a group of people with border collies and Ella loved running with them. At one point there were six or seven going after the same ball. She was the best dog I have ever had, and I have had lots of dogs.”
Sarah was told last Friday that a veterinary biopsy had revealed her dog had mouth cancer.
Sarah said she had 11 wonderful years with Ella before the devastating diagnosis and she decided treatment that might be required to prolong her life would only result in further “suffering”.
She added: “It would have been selfish for me to prolong her suffering, just because I didn’t want to say goodbye to her. I thought people who knew her would maybe come down.
“Obviously, a lot of people are working on Monday, but I didn’t want to mess anyone around over the weekend. The post just got shared and shared. And I had people from all parts of the country who never were going to be able to make the walk sending me messages.
“When I arrived, there was probably more than 30 dogs and in the region of 25 owners. There was even a group with leads on, with not particularly social dogs, but they had wanted to support in their own way.”
Sarah said Ella had come to live with her at the age of one after the farmer who first reared her realised she wasn’t going to make a good sheepdog.
The border collie had previously lived in an outdoor kennel, but former RSPCA inspector Sarah realised she would make a good house pet.
She said: “This collie was coming up to one year old and she just wouldn’t work sheep for the farmer, so he got another pup, and he was trying to find a home for her. The day after I moved into my house, she moved in with me.
"And as it transpired, when I got her paperwork through, it was actually her first birthday the day she moved in. I sent the farmer a photo of her laid out on the floor.
"He said: 'What’s she doing there? She’s not a house dog,' and I said: ‘I think you’ll find she is’."
