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Springfield police officer shares a heartfelt goodbye to his K-9 partner

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – A Springfield police officer said his goodbyes to his former K-9 partner this week in a touching post on social media. Officer Raul G...
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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – A Springfield police officer said his goodbyes to his former K-9 partner this week in a touching post on social media.

Officer Raul Gonzalez’s K-9 partner Kira retired in 2007 and became a full time house dog. In recent days, Kira, a Belgian Malinois, had struggled to move and Gonzalez knew the end was near.

The last few days she became ill, unable to move & eat. The heartbreaking decision all pet owners hate, a decision that had to be made. I thought about the life I tried to give her as both partner & family member. Did I give her the best I could after her career? Did I fulfill her life? K9 Kira was a great partner. She worked hard for me, never asking for much, but play and praise.

Gonzalez gave Kira a last ride in the cruiser and spent time reflecting on how well Kira performed her duties.

She helped the Springfield Police Department in locating & apprehending bad guys, locating evidence related to crimes, narcotics and locating missing persons. K9 Kira was a smart police dog that knew when to use her police skills & when to use her people skills. She was also a great demo dog because of that.

He ended his post by saying:

She loved people and brought us great joy. I will miss that as well as her calm demeanor. Everyone that knew Kira loved her. A dog’s life is short, and a police dogs life is even shorter. I hope that I made the best of the time we had with Kira.

View this post on Instagram

Last night I took my ex partner, K9 Kira, on her last ride in the K9 cruiser, her last ride with her handler & friend. The last few days there was something different about the way she looked out into the sky as she walked out to the back yard. She had a slower strut and she struggled to walk over to say hello to Hades in the kennel (my new K9 partner that replaced her almost two years ago). Kira learned to tolerate Hades as the new partner. Just like K9 Odin, my first K9 partner, learned to tolerate her when she replaced him in mid 2007. The last few days she became ill, unable to move & eat. The heartbreaking decision all pet owners hate, a decision that had to be made. I thought about the life I tried to give her as both partner & family member. Did I give her the best I could after her career? Did I fulfill her life? K9 Kira was a great partner. She worked hard for me, never asking for much, but play and praise. Kira was the first female police dog & first Belgian Malinois that served the Springfield K9 unit. She was imported from the Netherlands before making her to way to a vendor in Rhode Island and later becoming my new partner. She served as a duel purpose: Police dog trained in patrol & narcotics. She helped the Springfield Police Department in locating & apprehending bad guys, locating evidence related to crimes, narcotics and locating missing persons. K9 Kira was a smart police dog that knew when to use her police skills & when to use her people skills. She was also a great demo dog because of that. Before her retirement, Kira had a few months of learning to be house trained. Kira, with the help of my family & Fiancé, Lola, began her transition from being a working dog to a full time family dog. My fiancé learned all of Kira’s Dutch commands & devoted to help me so that Kira could enjoy her retirement. She enjoyed her long walks, hikes, car rides & her dog tricks that always got her treats. She loved people and brought us great joy. I will miss that as well as her calm demeanor. Everyone that knew Kira loved her. A dog’s life is short, and a police dogs life is even shorter. I hope that I made the best of the time we had with Kira

A post shared by @ sirhadesk9 on

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