Died – 8\/4\/16
\nHandler – Officer Brandon Penuel<\/p>\n
St. Charles County K9 Officer laid to rest<\/p>\n
St. Charles County Officer Brandon Penuel\u2019s heart was heavy when he got out of bed Thursday morning. His best friend, and longtime K9 partner, Aras, was dying of cancer and it was time to say goodbye. \u201cAbout three days ago he really went downhill. We took him to the emergency vet overnight, they did a lot of tests, and this time they found out he had liver cancer,\u201d Officer Penuel said. Aras was a 15-year-old Belgian Malinois who spent 12 years with the St. Charles County Police Department helping get narcotics off the streets. Officer Penuel says one of the biggest seizures Aras ever helped with was finding 112 pounds of marijuana in a vehicle on Highway 70 several years ago. Officer Penuel, along with his wife Laurie, took Aras to the West Clay Animal Hospital in St. Charles Thursday morning to say goodbye. Aras was simply too sick. \u201cWe pulled up to the vet and all my brothers from other law enforcement and K9 agencies were there,\u201d Officer Penuel said. \u201cIt was very emotional seeing that. It made a really rough day better.\u201d After Aras was put down, Brandon and Laurie stepped outside the clinic to tears and hugs from his fellow officers.When an officer retires, the tradition is to send out a radio call announcing his or her last day of duty. On Thursday, the tribute went out to Aras. \u201cHe was just a great dog, phenomenal partner,\u201d Officer Penuel said. \u201cI could not have asked for a better police dog than Aras.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Died – 8\/4\/16 Handler – Officer Brandon Penuel St. Charles County K9 Officer laid to rest St. Charles County Officer Brandon Penuel\u2019s heart was heavy when he got out of bed Thursday morning. His best friend, and longtime K9 partner, Aras, was dying of cancer and it was time to say goodbye. \u201cAbout three days …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1931,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[82],"class_list":["post-1929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-k9memorial","tag-m0"],"yoast_head":"\n