Oh this makes me so sad
by digby
ON top of all the other sadness of senseless mass shootings and toddlers accidentally shooting people and getting shot themselves and the sadness of parents accidentally shooting their kids and all the fucking rest of the horrors caused by a certain portion of America's insane love affair with guns, there's this:
A retired military K9 who became his veteran handler’s service dog when they returned from Iraq together was shot and killed in front of his Wyoming home last week.
Retired Army Ranger Matthew Bessler said a bicyclist killed his beloved Belgian Malinois, Mike, on Oct. 18. The biker told cops he felt threated by the 9-year-old pooch.
“I just lost my family member,” Bessler told the Billings Gazette. “He was very laid back ... He was happy. He was a happy-go-lucky dog.”
Mike — who earned the rank of Major while serving two tours of duty in Iraq alongside his Sergeant 1st Class handler — became the Bessler’s service dog when they returned to the U.S. together, both suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.
“I raised him and trained him as a puppy, and the ability he has to sense some of the issues that I have with seizures, with my PTSD, my TBI (traumatic brain injury) and severe anxiety disorders,” Bessler said. “He can … help me calm down or relax me.”
Family friends set up a fundraising page to help pay for a military funeral and burial for Major Mike.
The 59-year-old cycling shooter has not been charged with any crime since he felt threated and was acting in self-defense, the Park County Sheriff’s Office told the Powell Tribune.
I guess he couldn't have just cycled away. Because then he would be a wuss, right?
By the way, between cops shooting any dog they feel like shooting and nobody blinking an eye and all these yahoos carrying guns while they ride their bikes, I'd highly recommend that you never, ever let your dog out of your sight and always have him on a leash even if you live in Montana. That won't stop them. People are shooting dogs on leashes and tied up in the yard too. But maybe it will help.
Shooting other people's dogs is now a legitimate American hunting sport.
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