Hundreds of people joined a dog owner for his whippet’s final walk in Cornwall yesterday after an invitation to do so went viral.

Before putting his pet of 18 years to sleep, Mark Woods used social media to encourage people to share Walnut’s last visit to Porth Beach by launching the “WalkWithWalnut” hashtag.

18,000 people have liked Mark’s Facebook post which explains his decision to have Walnut euthanized because of his deteriorating health.

Hours after his final trip to the beach, Walnut passed away.  His owner and friend has since taken to Facebook to thank those who supported him both physically in Cornwall and virtually from around the world.

“Walnut passed away this morning at 11.56am.  The family and our three whippets, Monty, Nelson and Charlie were also in the room,” wrote Mark.  “He went very quickly and in my arms.”

“Thank you to the hundreds of people that attended the walk this morning and to all those that had their own walks with their beloved pets at 9.30am all around the world.”

Those following the movement online have used Twitter to document the impact Walnut’s story has had on them.

“If #walkwithwalnut has done something, it’s restored my faith in the compassion of humanity, in a particularly dreary year,” wrote one person.

“Did our #walkwithwalnut in the mizzly rain, weeping for his family & others who know that pain.  Fly high sweetie,” said another.