State Police Trooper Pens Letter About Late K-9 Partner

[Botany]

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2014/01/28/state-police-trooper-pens-letter-about-late-k-9-partner/

One Last Ride
It was a cold snowy day, training was cancelled due to the snowstorm, and I was left with
the unenviable task of when I should make the decision to put my partner of nearly nine
years to sleep.

snip

Dante was best described as a one-person dog, and as tough as he was for other people to
get close to, our relationship never waivered. 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.

snip

It all started one day while taking Dante out to his kennel. He collapsed on me, falling like
a rock with no control of his body. After several tests it was obvious to the vet that Dante
had pulmonary hypertension, a disease of unknown cause that prevented him from getting
enough oxygen to his lungs and making him collapse. The right side of his heart was enlarged,
causing poor blood circulation. As the weeks went on, he started getting seizures because of
the same lack of oxygen to his brain. He had one of these seizures in the yard the other day,
and after I sat on the ground in the snow with him patting him calmly waiting for it to be over,
I came in the house. Upon walking in, to my dismay, I realized my wife and two children had
been intently watching us to make sure all was okay. But it wasn’t and when I walked in the door,
my wife and daughter were crying, knowing what was to be coming, possibly sooner than we were
ready. My son was sitting very somberly, thinking if we don’t dwell on it things it will get better.
My son and daughter were 3 and 1 when I, respectively, when I got Dante. They knew him practically
their entire lives.

[Auntie Bush]

1. Beautiful dog! RIP Dante.