A heartbroken woman, who had to put her dog down due to ill health, was pleasantly surprised when she was joined by 30 other canines as she took her pet for one last walk.
Sarah Keith took her 12-year-old Border Collie, Ella, to her favourite beach in Bridlington, East Yorkshire for one final walk. Before that, she had posted on social media asking other dog owners to join her for the special outing.
The decision for the final walk was made after she received the devastating news that Ella had terminal oral cancer.
Sarah soon made up her mind by thinking it would be ‘selfish’ to prolong the dog’s suffering just because she didn’t want to say goodbye.
After she posted about the difficult decision on social media, she invited people to join her on Fraisthorpe beach on Monday.
On the day, more than 30 dogs and some 25 supporters turned up to the beach to meet Sarah and Ella.
“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,” said Sarah.
“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,” she added.
Photos from the final walk of Ella have now been shared online. Sarah said she had plenty of fun on her last day of life.
“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. he was the best dog I have ever had, and I have had lots of dogs,” said Sarah.
