One of my heroes is no longer with us...

[oliegirl]

2 years ago, during the chase for the suspect who killed Bill and Billy Venable, K9 officer Aryn was shot twice, once in the chest and once in the leg. Aryn's handler, Officer Mike Waddell is the husband of one of my best friends - our families have been friends since our children met in preschool 6 years ago. When Aryn was shot, it was because he jumped in front of Officer Waddell and took the bullets for him. Had it not been for him, my friend might have been killed in the line of duty, or at the least, very seriously injured. He became one of my heroes that day.

The Waddells adopted Aryn when he retired shortly after the shooting. For the past 2 years he has been their pet, a member of their family. Last week, they had to make the very difficult decision to euthanize Aryn. He had been suffering some fairly serious medical/neurological problems for a while and the realization that he was not going to get better was something they had to face.

Please take a moment out of your day to think of Aryn and of the Waddells as they go through this. Many of us here know how difficult it is to suffer the loss of a pet, however, Aryn truly was more than a pet to the Waddells, and he was more than a dog to almost everyone who knew him. I know that I have a guardian angel up there watching over me and am thankful that I had the opportunity to know this amazing creature during his time here on earth.

[FrogMan]

:(

FM

[JonInMiddleGA]

I saw this story in the AJC & was saddened by it myself.

It's not been a good few days for animals it seems, this story & then Barbaro and now on a personal level we're dealing with some unsettling information from the vet about one of our cats. Nothing certain yet, but the latest call from the vet this morning has us very concerned at this point. Sigh. Not a good week on this front at all :(

[Bad-example]

Feeling sad here, too. Had to take our dog of 17 years in to be put down today. It is hitting my dad (75) very hard as well. It was time, but that doesn't make it any easier.

[Swaggs]

The worst thing about getting a pet is knowing that you will, in all likelihood, outlive it. You just have to try and treat them as well as you can while you have them.

[King of New York]

I hadn't heard that story before...

Good thoughts sent...

[lordscarlet]

The worst thing about getting a pet is knowing that you will, in all likelihood, outlive it. You just have to try and treat them as well as you can while you have them.

Our (Wade and I) first (for all intents and purposes, we had a dog that we got rid of when we were like 4) pet was a cat that we got in college (ours, in our apartment, not one that was at home). He had a number of problems, including a period of time that we had to give him insulin every day. He ended up going comatose before he was 3 and the vet told us we could let him suffer for the next day or so and we would have to put him down.

For the somewhat-happy part: His name was O'Leary. He was an orange tabby. The name O'Leary came from the fact that he was orange, much like the color of fire, and was a reference to the Great Chicago Fire (for the many many people that don't know the story, look it up :)). A few years ago I ended up with a pregnant stray, and she had 5 kittens. One was an orange tabby. I kept him, and his name is OJ, O'Leary Junior, with the added inference to "Orange Juice".

[BYU 14]

I know the bond you can develop to Pets is very strong and in the case of Aryn it must have been multiplied ten fold. My prayers go to the Waddell's, what a great story.

[kcchief19]

Aryn certainly was a hero ... godspeed.

[LoneStarGirl]

I have heard this story some where before, sounds like a great dog.

Not to threadjack but today my German Shephard and Hungarian Vizla killed a cat in our back yard. I cried for thirty minutes when I finally got the animal to the nearest hospital. And the cat didn't have identification so I have no way of contacting its owner. I feel like crap and dont think I will be able to look at my dogs the same for the next douple of days....

[MizzouRah]

Sad story. We have 4 pets and I don't even want to think about them dying.

[lungs]

I lost a cat this week too. Two of my males got into an awful fight over a female in heat and one ended up with fatal injuries.

[digamma]

Thanks for posting.

[oliegirl]

Thanks for all the good thoughts. This week has been tough, the funeral is tomorrow, but I'm starting a new job tomorrow so I can't go. My parents and my son are going though so at least our family will be represented.

I've been spending a lot of time with my 2 dogs, this has made me realize how much they mean to me and how heartbroken I'll be when I have to face this reality. It's good to know there are so many animal lovers on the board.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Thanks for all the good thoughts. This week has been tough, the funeral is tomorrow, but I'm starting a new job tomorrow so I can't go. My parents and my son are going though so at least our family will be represented.

I've been spending a lot of time with my 2 dogs, this has made me realize how much they mean to me and how heartbroken I'll be when I have to face this reality. It's good to know there are so many animal lovers on the board.

It's a tough thing to face. I lost a dog of 15 years almost 13 years ago now and I still get sad thinking about it.

My and wife and I adopted a puppy back in late May. He's just about to turn a year old in a few weeks. He's a great little guy and perfectly healthy, so he should be around for a long, long time, but whenever I think of losing him it crushes me.

[lordscarlet]

I lost a cat this week too. Two of my males got into an awful fight over a female in heat and one ended up with fatal injuries.

That's awful. My two guys fight when my fiance's cat comes over sometimes... Now I have something more to worry about. :(