October 12, 2005
Damn Good Dog
If you haven't seen this story, you should.
Ranger, a 4 year old Belgian Malinois, and an officer of the Long Beach Police Department was shot and killed in the performance of his duties last week. Today was his funeral, and he will be buried at the Long Beach Police Academy in their K9 cemetary.
Long Beach police were attempting to capture a gang member who was suspected of parole violations on October 4th, when he fired at officers and crawled under a porch. Despite several warnings, the criminal did not come out and so Officer Mike Parcells sent in his partner, Ranger.
Ranger brought out the bad guy, but he was mortally wounded in the process.
The bad guy didn't make it either.
Everytime I see this story on the news, it makes me cry to see the officer cradling his partner in his arms as he rushed him to the emergency Vet clinic where he died after 3 1/2 hours of surgery.
Ranger leaves behind his partner, Officer Parcells, and his family, Mrs. Parcells and the two Parcells kids who were his best friends and who used to sneak him hot dogs behind their daddy's back.
Ranger is the third K9 officer to be memorialized by the Long Beach PD.
Posted by caltechgirl at October 12, 2005 07:17 PM | TrackBackThere's a charity to prevent canine tragedies like this one.
Posted by: Xrlq at October 12, 2005 11:01 PMI've worked with more then one k-9 unit. They are a very valuable part of any agency. I hate seeing stories like this. People think that just because it is a dog that it's not the same as shooting a human police officer.
Those dogs can be the biggest heros in any department.
Posted by: Contagion at October 13, 2005 05:48 AMI've donated to them before, but I couldn't find their link when I looked yesterday. Thanks.
Posted by: caltechgirl at October 13, 2005 10:09 AMCrap! This is so sad.
Posted by: Marie at October 14, 2005 04:48 AMVery sad.
Posted by: vw bug at October 14, 2005 05:16 AM
