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Author Topic:   K-9 Obituary Goes Viral
Dee
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posted January 29, 2014 03:18 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Dee     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
There is a heartrending moment when pet owners realize it's time to time to say a final goodbye to their loyal companions. For Massachusetts State Trooper Christopher Coscia, it came on a frigid morning in early January when Dante, his K-9 partner of more than eight years — a big, loyal, smart German Shepherd — suffered yet another seizure in the fresh snow outside of their house. "He was so beautiful, he was hard not to love," Coscia tells Yahoo Shine. "Everybody just wanted to be with him." Coscia knew it would be best to let Dante go, but before bringing him in to be put to be sleep, the duo took what Coscia refers to as "One Last Ride" together, and describes those bittersweet final hours in a moving obituary he posted on the State Police Facebook page on Tuesday.

Coscia says the obit was meant for his colleagues at headquarters who knew Dante, but he's since received an outpouring of love and support from strangers as far away as England, and the tribute has been liked more than 10,000 times. [You can read the full text here.]
More on Yahoo: Police Dog Bids Farewell to Slain Cop
"Dante was best described as a one-person dog," Coscia wrote, "Every morning when I opened the door to his kennel he would jump up on me, wrap his paws around my waist, get his morning greeting and pat from me, storm up the stairs, and push the door open ready to go to work." Coscia tells Yahoo Shine that the 9-year-old dog truly loved his job and some days he didn't even want to get out of the patrol car to go home. "After my shift, I'd go to the car and open the door, and I'd have to grab him by the collar and say, 'That's it, work's over.'"
Coscia's letter outlines Dante's stunning career fighting crime throughout the state, and documents how he tracked down abductees and murderers, sniffed out illicit drugs including more than 1,000 grams of heroin, over 8,600 grams of cocaine, and at least 1,000 pounds of marijuana, and actually helped recover more than $14 million in cash. No doubt Dante was one intelligent dog, so clever, in fact, that he learned how to open the cruiser door, a skill he used to get closer to his favorite human. "He took this new knowledge and taught himself to slide open the door that separated us in the cruiser, his way to always be close to me," Coscia wrote. "While on patrol he would stick his head through for his occasional ear rub."
More on Yahoo: U.S. Military Dedicates First National Monument to Combat Dogs

As vibrant and strong as Dante appeared to be for much of his life, he suffered from incurable pulmonary hypertension, a disease that prevented him from absorbing enough oxygen. After a series of tests, his veterinarian found that his heart had become enlarged and his brain was being suffocated. Dante had his first seizure around Thanksgiving. Coscia's wife and two children, who were only 1 and 3 when their beloved pup first joined the family, witnessed his last collapse in the yard through their kitchen window. "I realized my wife and two children had been intently watching us to make sure all was okay," Coscia wrote. "But it wasn't, and when I walked in the door, my wife and daughter were crying, knowing what was to be coming...sooner than we were ready."
After more than 2,300 official rides together — not counting all those off-duty trips to friends' houses and family vacations — it was time for Coscia and his partner to take that final tour. Even though Dante had barely been able to walk after his most recent seizure, Coscia was amazed at how alert his dog was in the cruiser. They circled for eight hours, putting off the inevitable grim task ahead. "How does the dog who can barely breathe remain upright and vigilant for so long?" he wondered. Before they reached their destination, Coscia pulled into a parking lot to compose his last goodbye with Dante by his side. "I write this story with tears in my eyes and flowing freely down my face. Dante is still somehow sitting upright watching me as I write about him, every once in awhile sticking his head through the cage, letting me know things will be alright."
Coscia tells Yahoo Shine that he hasn't been able to make it through a full reading of his completed letter, and that the loss of Dante has been rough on his whole family. But, he adds that a new K-9 recruit is helping them through their tough time. "Without Felix, it would have been impossible," he says, referring to a bouncy 3-year-old German Shepherd that he started training in September. "He's happy-go-lucky and always wagging his tail." Felix has his final exams this week, and if he passes, Coscia will soon be cruising with a new partner.
http://shine.yahoo.com/pets/k-9-obituary-goes-viral-pass-tissues-184100011.html

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Randall
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posted January 30, 2014 02:04 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote

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Randall
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posted September 14, 2016 04:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote

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