The saddest but in many ways the most bizarre death of a pet I have ever heard of happened to a workmate of my wife, who had a Grey Dane, one of the largest of the breed - a beautiful, friendly, but enormous animal.
One afternoon he was walking it in a local park in suburban London when it suffered a heart-attack and died instantly.
The park attendant insisted that the dog be removed immediately as the park was very popular with local children - he refused to assist.
My wife's friend was left to manhandle the deceased animal out of the park, where he had to call a taxi to get it home.
Jim Carroll