'You were the best puppy ever!' Justin Bieber shares throwback snap with his dog Sammy… as he mourns pup’s death

Justin Bieber passed along sad news on Thursday as he announced the death of his dog Sammy on social media.

The 20-year-old Canadian pop star posted a throwback picture on Instagram of himself holding the adorable brown and white pooch.

'R.i.p Sammy you were the best puppy ever,' Justin wrote in the caption to his nearly 24 million followers on Instagram. 

Best puppy ever: Justin Bieber shared a photo on Thursday of his dog Sammy that recently died 

The photo also featured an adorably youthful Justin, taken in the days when he was better known for his great hair more than his bad behaviour,

The Baby singer's dog lived with his grandparents in Ontario, Canada.

While Sammy appeared to have been a much loved family pet, some of Bieber's other animals have not been so fortunate.  

Blonde hair: The Canadian pop star, shown earlier this month in Los Angeles, recently went blonde

Back in December 2013 Justin impulsively bought a white and tan American bulldog puppy -  later named Karma by a fan - as a gift for his father Jeremy.

Canadian dog trainer Trevor Dvernichuk told The Sun last month that Jeremy left Karma with him back in February and hasn't been back since.

'This is like taking your kid to school and not picking it back up,' Dvernichuk said.

In September, the dog trainer took to his Facebook page, writing: 'Karma is gonna bite you in your ass biebers.'

Bieber and his monkey before it was taken into care

Monkeying around: Justin is shown in 2013 with his pet capuchin monkey that was seized in Germany

Justin also was criticised for going on tour in 2013 with a young pet capuchin monkey named Mally.

German customs officials seized the 20-month-old monkey in June 2013 after Justin brought it to Munich without the right vaccination and import paperwork.

Justin failed to retrieve the monkey or send the documents and so ownership of the animal was transferred to Germany.

Mally was taken to a Munich animal shelter and later relocated to Serenegeti Park near Hanover. 

And previously, in December 2012, Justin gave away his pet hamster, Pac, to a random screaming fan at a Jingle Ball concert after gaining the fan's promise that she would 'take care of him'.

Pac died several months later in March 2013.

New addition: Justin's father Jeremy in December 2013 shared a photo of the new family dog Karma