Ian Warhurst has buried his 22-year-old beloved pure white Maltese, Raz, in pride of place in his garden in Huntly.

The headstone reads, “Raz, 22-years-old, died 15/03/14, Little Legend”.

Mr Warhurst said it was a “good spot” for his final resting place.

“It’s a nice little spot,” he said.

“I built the top of the monument out of plasply so it is waterproof and it is on imitation grass.

“I was doing it on and off, it took about two or three days.

“It has been a long week or so and I miss him very much.”

Mr Warhurst said it was hard coming to terms with losing Raz.

“Every time I turn around I expect him to be there,” he said.

“The night-time is the worst, he was always there, and when it was din dins he would start licking his chops.

“He knew every word I said.

“I still haven’t put his plates and things away.

“It has knocked me around a bit.

“Twenty-two years is a fair bit of your life.

"It is like losing one of the kids.

“I keep looking around to see where he is.

“There has been a lot of people asking how is Raz and every time I say it, it hurts.

“But you have got to go on.”

Mr Warhurst said the community support had been "marvellous".

“I went to pick up his body on the Saturday morning and one of the ladies said a young lass has brought this card and teddy bear in to give to me," he said.

“It brought us all undone.

“The ladies in the vets didn’t have the heart to tell her he had died just before she got there.

“It was someone I don’t even know.

“It is just beautiful that people would do that. It is unreal.”

Mr Warhurst received several cards and poems from the public.

One of the cards read, “there are no words to express the sorrow and heartache that you must feel, but we hope it might help in some small way to know that others are thinking of you and that our thoughts, love and prayers are with you.”

“It just shows you there are some good people in this world,” Mr Warhurst said.