Man's Best Friends - True Stories of the World's Most Heroic Dogs. John McShane
street dog. You just knew, when you were out on shift, he was going to look after you.’
Jake made his last arrest in December 2008 after tackling a burglar wielding a bottle at his handler. PC Cairnie-Coates said: ‘The offender had run off and we were searching for him. When I spotted him, he came at me brandishing a bottle, then Jake came out of nowhere and detained him.’
Sometimes police dogs are injured (or worse) in the line of duty. Zoltan was one such casualty. The four-year-old German Shepherd needed emergency surgery after suffering a wound to the chest during an attack in the Northeast of England. He was injured as he helped police arrest a man involved in a late-night domestic dispute in Stockton in 2005 and suffered an 8in-deep wound that went through his front right leg and into his body, narrowly missing his lungs and causing him to lose 20 per cent of his blood. Soon afterwards, plucky Zoltan was back on duty with his handler, PC Andy Lawton.
There are countless stories of the nerve and tenacity of German Shepherds but perhaps the tale of Aryn who took two bullets in the line of duty sums up the characteristics of this marvellous breed. When laid to rest in Oak Rest Pet Gardens, near Bethlehem in Georgia, it was in a ceremony befitting a fallen hero. Aryn had retired as a decorated K-9, surviving to live out the rest of his days with his handler, Cpl. Mike Waddell and his family. K-9 units from all over the area came to pay their respects.
A police honour guard passed an estimated 150 officers carrying a flag-draped coffin of the German Shepherd, who had faithfully served the Gwinnett County, Georgia, police department for seven years. The 11-year-old retired dog (who died in 2007) was credited with saving the lives of his handler and other officers in gun battle with a double-homicide suspect, three years earlier.
‘It’s good to see how everyone came together for something like this,’ said Police Sgt. Henry Schotter. ‘Any day a dog could be called to a situation, like Aryn was – we depend on them to protect us and the community.’
Aryn earned his hero designation on 13 January 2004 during a shootout with a double-murder suspect when he took bullets meant for his handler and other officers. They were in dense woods chasing a suspect, who police said had murdered two men. As Waddell dropped the leash to unholster his gun, Aryn rushed the suspect and was shot in the chest and leg. He survived but was forced to retire and remained the Waddell family pet until his death.
For his role in the shootout, Aryn received a host of departmental commendations, including two Medals of Valour and a Purple Heart. He was also named a Gwinnett County Officer of the Year and given lifetime membership to the Fraternal Order of Police.
Waddell didn’t speak during the funeral service but remained seated with his wife, daughter and other family members in a gazebo next to the bier that held Aryn’s small white coffin. A fellow Gwinnett officer read his words: ‘Thank you, buddy, for saving my life. I and all of my family and many, many others will truly miss you’.
In his written farewell, Waddell wrote of how heart-broken he felt each time he would dress for work and Aryn did his ‘happy dance’, thinking he was going to work, too: ‘Even though his body told him he physically couldn’t do it anymore, his mind and heart never told him no’.
While a bagpiper played ‘Amazing Grace’, two members of the honour guard folded the American flag covering Aryn’s coffin and presented it to Waddell. Gwinnett police K-9 Cpl. Bots Finnegan eulogised Aryn with a poem that in part read:
A man with a gun, the dispatcher did say
I jumped from my car when it pointed your way.
Before leaving home, I was told by your wife,
I knew at that moment I’d give you my life.
Perhaps this short poem by an unknown author sums up the qualities of all German Shepherds:
The stately German Shepherd
Protective, bold and smart,
Looked into my eyes one day
And quickly stole my heart.
Courageous and endearing,
A favourite of its breed,
So proud and yet so loving,
A steadfast friend indeed.
Caring disposition,
Faithful to the core.
If you have a Shepherd’s love,
You cannot want for more.
Devotees of the dog will no doubt echo those sentiments.
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