A heartbroken family are calling for fireworks to be banned after their beloved pet pooch died as a result of being spooked. One-year-old shih tzu Button was out for a walk on Foxhunters Playing Field in Newcastle upon Tyne two weeks ago, when a group of teenagers reportedly threw fireworks in his direction.

The terrified puppy ran away and his body was tragically found days later by the local community on the beach. Button’s owner, 86-year-old Gillian, has been left devastated by the loss of her canine companion. Gillian’s granddaughter Kay, 31, told Chronicle Live : “He was her best friend, he was her moral support.

“He made sure she had a cheery little face to keep her going. He was everything to her.”

Gillian has been left “a mess” by the tragic news and Kay has “never seen her rocked so hard”.

“Whilst he was my granny’s little best friend, he was a family member to all of us,” she explained.

“All of us are just absolutely devastated – because of the loss to ourselves, but because of the effect on my gran as well.”

The pooch joined the family when he was just weeks old and brought joy to everyone he met.

“He was the most mischievous little thing. He had such a big personality for being such a little dog,” Kay added.

“Even when he was a menace, he was absolute perfection. We couldn’t have been more blessed with him.

“He was a friendly, loving, caring little pup – and he was very responsive to my gran.”

Button would always dote on Gillian when she wasn’t feeling well, and Kay describes him as her “little nursemaid”.

After Button ran away on November 30, the family made all efforts to bring him home safely and started a huge search along the coast.

“I think I covered 30 miles between Sunday evening and collecting his body from the beach on Tuesday,” Kay admitted. “Physically, I’ve not recovered from it yet.”

More than 600 local people joined in the quest with the aid of drones, leaving Kay completely blown away.

The search for Button ended in tragedy when a distraught Kay was called to collect his body from the beach on November 1.

Since Button’s death, locals have continued to support the family with neighbours checking in on Gillian and even sending flowers.

Kay has now set up a new petition to ban fireworks in Button’s name, so that no other family is torn apart by the loss of a pet.

The family hope to encourage people to think twice about setting off fireworks.

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