People are taking the collars off their pets as a tribute to this dead dog

Ah, stop.

A few weeks back, a border terrier named Rocco died when he caught his dog collar in a door handle. He was just five-months-old. His owner, a man named Adrian James, shared the news in a Facebook group for dogs, saying:

"RIP my little Rocco I'm totally heartbroken you had to die in such a horrible way and only 5 months old, GUTTED. "My poor boy caught his collar on a kitchen door handle! He must have been jumping up to get on the work top and fell down catching the collar my poor Mum found him hanging on the door."

Once other dog owners heard how little Rocco had tragically passed, they decided to pay tributes to the dog... by removing the collars from their own animals. Using the hashtag #collarsoff, they took to Instagram to share their condolences. And some of the pics are just lovely.

A post shared by Teddy the Tripawd Pug (@super_tedz) on Oct 10, 2017 at 10:36am PDT

A post shared by Nix Barrett (@skip_the_border_terrier) on Sep 28, 2017 at 4:28am PDT

A post shared by Jamie (@jamielunn96) on Oct 12, 2017 at 12:37am PDT

A post shared by Tania Harris (@jack_christian_louboutin) on Oct 12, 2017 at 6:28pm PDT

A post shared by Ruth (@justruththebeagle) on Oct 11, 2017 at 2:41am PDT

A post shared by Katie (@katiegibbons07) on Oct 12, 2017 at 11:05am PDT

As well as sharing their photo tributes, people are also urging other dog owners to take their pet's collars off whenever they're not needed. Since his untimely death, a JustGiving page has been set up in Rocco's honour to raise money for border terrier welfare. It has already raised almost £6,000. Rocco image via JustGiving.