A Richmond, Va., woman was so attached to her dog that she took her to the grave.

But was it really her time to go?

Emma, a healthy Shih Tzu mix, was euthanized recently because her owner left explicit instructions in her will: The fur baby was to be put down — and laid to rest with her.

“Heartbroken” shelter volunteers at Chesterfield County Animal Services — where Emma had a two-week reprieve from death — said she was a well-bred, pampered and much-loved pup. They appealed to the executor of the dead woman’s estate, begging them to not go through with ending Emma’s life — but their pleas were ignored.

“We did suggest they could sign the dog over on numerous occasions — because it’s a dog we could easily find a home for and re-home,” Carrie Jones, manager of Chesterfield County Animal Services, tells WWBT NBC. “But ultimately, they came back in on March 22nd and redeemed the dog.”

Emma was taken directly to a vet to be euthanized. After she was cremated, her ashes were placed in an urn and returned to the “authorized representative of the estate,” following her owner’s last wishes to the letter.

As news of Emma’s untimely demise hits Twitter, the national reaction is overwhelmingly negative. “This is heartless,” one animal lover tweets. “What a selfish monster,” another barks.

“WTF!!! people don’t care for animals in life or death!!! this is heartless, inhumane, and pitiful!!!!,” one particularly heated post reads. “And the people who killed said dog are even more trash!!”

While killing healthy pets so they can be interned with owners is sparking ethical debates on social media, the law is crystal clear, says Larry Spiaggi, president of the Virginia Funeral Directors Association.

“It’s not legal to put a dog’s cremated remains — or any animal — in a casket and bury them,” says Spiaggi as his chocolate Lab, Peace, trots laps around him.

Years before the law changed, Spiaggi says, a client asked him to make similar arrangements — and he’s still haunted by it today. “Knowing while we were taking care of her that that poor dog was being euthanized … I still ache over it.”

Some local vets tell the Virginia news outlet they refuse to carry out such services.

“Whenever we’re faced with a euthanasia situation, it’s a very emotional situation — and beyond everything we talk about — that we need to do ethically, and we’ve taken an oath to do,” says Dr. Kenny Lucas of the Shady Grove Animal Clinic in Glen Allen, Va.

“It’s something we take home, too. It weighs on us as professionals.”

While Virginia state code prohibits burying animals with humans in commercial cemeteries, there are exceptions for final resting spaces that are family-owned.