A man made his dog run in heatwave conditions until it collapsed unconscious on the road.
Jason McKay was riding his bike with husky Max running alongside him when his pet keeled over.
The 27-year-old then tried to pull the animal along the ground in an attempt to get him home.
All the husky’s paws were injured and bleeding following the incident on July 22.
McKay was exercising his pet on the B9170 road in Aberdeenshire near Hoodles PlayBarn and Coffee Shop.
He tried to pull the dog along a footpath by its lead after it collapsed about four miles away in Inverurie’s Burn Lane.
The husky is now being cared for by Scottish SPCA staff.
McKay, of Inverurie. appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday and admitted causing his dog to suffer unnecessary harm by running and walking him to exhaustion, causing him to lose consciousness and suffer breathing problems.
But last night, his father Ewan insisted his son was an animal lover and that he and Max had been “inseparable”
Mr McKay said his son – who has autism, dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) – had been left “devastated” by how badly his pet had been injured.
He said: “Jason is a total animal lover, but people are just going to judge him by that one day.
“He thought he was doing the right thing, exercising the dog, but he picked one of the hottest days of the year to take him for the run.
“We can’t believe what happened that day.”
Mr McKay said his son had worked for three-and-a-half years to train Max to be off the lead, and always made sure there was someone to look after him while he was at work.
“They were inseparable, they were together 24/7,” he added.
“It was total devotion – you never saw Jason without Max.
“Jason just didn’t realise how hot it was that day, and wasn’t thinking about Max running on the hot tar. He’s really upset about what happened.
“He’s 27, before this I’d seen him greet three times in his life but he’s been greeting since this happened. He really misses the dog.”
He added that he had got a panicked call from his son after Max collapsed about 150 yards from home.
He went to the scene, where he was met by police – who insisted he did not move the dog until a vet arrived.
McKay has previously posted on social media that he used his mountain bike to take his dog for a training run lasting more than four hours and covering almost 30 miles.
In court yesterday, Sheriff William Taylor told his agent, solicitor Mike Monro, that he loved dogs, and had three of his own until Friday. One of his pets died on Saturday.
Sheriff Taylor advised Mr Monro that he had brought it to his attention in case the lawyer believed the sheriff should excuse himself from the case.
The sheriff deferred sentence until next month for background reports.
Last night, Keith Marley from the North East Wildlife and Animal Rescue Centre (New Arc) near Ellon, said dogs had to be trained to run great distances.
He said: “There are a number of things to consider, like the age of the dog and the terrain it was running on.
“But there are also people who think they can pick up a dog like a husky or a greyhound and they’ll just be able to run and run.
“But just like a professional athlete, the dogs that do pull sleighs and race on tracks have had a lot of training first.
“It’s commonsense – a dog that’s a couch potato won’t be able to run as much as a dog that exercises a lot.”