In a very moving moment, a dying dog was joined on his final walk by 400 of his furry friends.
The walk occurred in Crawfordsburn Forest Park, Northern Ireland. Marley, the dog, had been diagnosed with cancer. As a result, Ashley, his owner, put out an open call for other local dogs to come and join him on his final walk.
She has described her cocker spaniel’s cancer diagnosis as “probably one of the hardest things I have ever had to accept”.
Ashley, who has owned Marley for seven years, said to Belfast Live, “He has been through everything with me the last seven years, losing my baby, losing my dad, being assaulted, the break down of my 10-year
relationship, he even stayed with me during my darkest moments when I was struggling with PTSD – my Marley never left my side once. To think there is nothing I can do to save him absolutely breaks my heart.”
Marley received a diagnosis of Haemangiosarcoma, an illness described as “the most aggressive form of cancer a pupper can have”.
While Marley did have a 1.5kg tumor removed in hopes of beating the cancer, in the end his body was no longer responsive to chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments.
“This was one of his first walks and he still gets super excited about arriving,” his owner wrote on the event’s Facebook page. “Please come along with as many hoomans and pups you like, everyone is welcome, two feet or four.”
Unbeknown to Ashey at the time, his story was shared so many times, that in the end, 400 dogs and their owners were there to give him a wonderful send off.
And according to the Daily Star, it wasn’t just dogs and their owners who got involved, local businesses also joined in the farewell by providing refreshments.
Ashleigh said, “Never in our wildest puppy dog dreams did we ever think this amount of people would show up for a normal girl and her little doggy. We are so humbled and honored to have spent the day with so many fantastic people.”
