Emotional farewell honours Ottawa shooting victim

The two loyal dogs owned by Corporal Nathan Cirillo have calmly watched strangers leave tributes outside the family house as they wait for Cirillo’s body to return home, following an emotional ceremony held in Ottawa, two days after he was shot dead by an Islamic extremist.

Cirillo’s body was carried by military personnel to the sound of bagpipes as his distraught mother followed, to begin the journey back to his hometown of Hamilton, Ontario.

Thousands of Canadians attended the touching ceremony held at the war memorial before Cirillo made his final journey home shortly after 1:30pm local time after his casket was taken out of the McEvoy-Shields Funeral Home.

The Ottawa police traffic and enforcement unit accompanied the hearse carrying the soldier for the first leg of the six- to seven-hour trip.

The motorcade travelled down what is known as the Highway of Heroes which was the popular route for the return of soldiers killed in Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and military leaders gathered at the war memorial to review troops at the official reinstatement of the National Sentry Program following the shooting.

The war memorial has now reopened to the public.