Nine-year-old Caesar, a German shepherd K-9 officer with the New York Police Department, was laid to rest last Thursday following a battle with cancer.
Before Caesar was euthanized, he received a hero’s salute from NYPD K-9 handlers and their dogs for his courageous service, which included three tours of duty in Afghanistan with the U.S. Army, The Daily Mail reported.
Officer Juan Rodriguez, Caesar’s long-time handler and Army veteran, was with him every step of the way.
Caesar joined NYPD’s Transit K-9 Unit in 2014 as the first military service dog when he was just four-years-old. His duty was to keep the subway safe, but he surpassed that objective in many ways.
Caesar used his expertise once to sniff out explosives which resulted in saving an entire Navy Seals squad.
Caesar went through training and also became part of NYPD’s Transit K-9 Unit, working routine patrols and counterterrorism duties, NY Daily News reported.
He was a FEMA-certified dog who worked in earthquake disaster relief in Haiti.
Just outside of the animal hospital, Caesar was bid a righteous farewell by his peers.
Rodriguez walked Caesar down the street which was lined with NYPD Police, many with their fellow K-9 officers.
Rodriguez let Caesar have a final glimpse of the East River before entering the animal hospital for the final time.
“It is an honor to work with him. It sounds funny to say that I’m honored to work with a dog, but I know I can trust him, and I feel comfortable knowing that if I go out there, he’ll find anything and help save lives,” Rodriguez said.
Heartbreaking moment NYPD K-9 dog named Caesar who served in Afghanistan receives a hero’s salute before being euthanized after battle with cancerhttps://t.co/NtJijbEPjb
— Blue Lives Matter (@RetiredNYCPD) February 15, 2019
It was just last November when the NYPD had to put down another one of their K9 officers, according to PEOPLE.
Angel was a four-year-old K9 Bloodhound who battled cancer and had to be euthanized. Her job was to locate missing autistic children and also to hunt down criminals.
She was named in honor of Detective Rafael Ramos, who was shot and killed in 2014.
Officer Manuel Orellana was Angel’s partner and the two resided together.
About 20 saluting NYPD officers lined up with a final salute to Angel and also held an honorary flyover in her honor before she walked into Staten Island’s Rosebank Animal Hospital to be euthanized.
Angel had received an American Kennel Club award for her service.
Angel left behind her partner, Officer Orellana, and her sister K9, Lui Lui, who was named after “Detective Ramos’ partner, Detective Wenjian Liu, who also died in the line-of-duty,” 10 TV News reported.
