After a long life spent being kind and compassionate to every animal she met, Margarita Suarez, an animal lover in Merida, Mexico, received an unexpected honor at her funeral – a pack of stray dogs and even a bird that showed up to pay their respects. Suarez was known (by both humans and animals alike) for feeding the throng of stray animals that gathered at her door every morning, and for taking a bag of food with her wherever she went so she could feed any animals she met.

The dogs even followed Suarez’s hearse to and from the funeral home, dispersing only once her body was being prepared for cremation. Read on for more details from this beautiful story!

(h/t: dailymail)

When Margarita passed away earlier this month, family members were stunned to see stray dogs appear at the funeral parlor near her body

Margarite had been feeding stray dogs her whole life. She even carried bags of food to feed dogs she met

She had made a lot of canine friends this way, and now they came to mourn for her

At first, the funeral home staff didn’t know what to do, but they let them in when they realized that they were there to pay their respects

“In pain, they jumped for joy, it was wonderful,” said Margarita’s daughter