Died – 9\/25\/15
\nHandler – Leon Ingersoll
\nAdpted By – Amanda Hall<\/p>\n
Retired service dog gets honorable sendoff<\/p>\n
It was a decision Amanda Hall, 24, felt unworthy to make. Who was she to say when it was time for a hero to go? A hero \u2014 that\u2019s how she came to know Caras, the Belgian Malinois who had been trained at birth to sniff out hidden bombs. He spent nine years doing just that overseas. Then, at the age of 10 and with a debilitating disease forming in his lower back, he retired and was placed in a crate on a plane along with 92 others like him, bound for New York City. In March 2014, he came into the adoptive care of Hall, the Jacksonville resident whose job at Anniston\u2019s AMK9 Academy for explosive detection dogs had well prepared her for Caras. But nothing could have prepared her for two weeks ago. That\u2019s when she was forced to face what she hadn\u2019t let herself believe for weeks as Caras\u2019 health only worsened. It was the look in his eyes, she said. And so she went about planning a proper sendoff. \u201cHe deserves to have the ones most heroes get,\u201d she said. Late Friday afternoon, traffic stopped along Pelham Road as a police escort led the way to Jacksonville\u2019s Clanton Animal Hospital, where Caras was put down. A group of about 60 held flag poles and lined the entrance. Hall and Caras walked through them, with deputies from the Calhoun County Sheriff\u2019s Office carrying a folded flag in their wake. The shepherd\u2019s black-and-tan ears were erect, and he panted as he made his way in a wheeled contraption that propped up his paralyzed back legs. Earlier in the week, Leon Ingersoll reflected on his six months in 2006 as Caras\u2019 handler. They were assigned to secure international embassies in Baghdad. He choked up when he thought about one sunny afternoon of fetch with Caras in a wide, open field. The dog was 2 then, only beginning his career, \u201cvibrant and full of life,\u201d Ingersoll recalled. \u201cI started working dogs in 1993,\u201d Ingersoll, 45, said by phone from his Texas home, \u201cand he was the most meticulous dog I\u2019ve had. I mean, he checked every crevice of a vehicle.\u201d So it seemed also to Kyle Edenfield, who spent 2012 handling Caras on an Army infantry base in Afghanistan. They did daily perimeter checks, and in between, Edenfield saw how Caras was a source of joy for the soldiers. They spent down time wanting to play with the dog. \u201cSome of these dogs, most of these dogs, people will talk about a flaw they have,\u201d Edenfield, 44, said over the phone. \u201cCaras, there was nothing bad said about that dog at all.\u201d Two years after parting ways with Caras, Edenfield, living in Louisiana, searched for the dog. He was led to Hall. Ingersoll had connected with her as well, and it made him happy Caras had found a home. \u201cThey should be able to enjoy retirement,\u201d Ingersoll said of service dogs. \u201cThey should get to live their life as a dog. Just as a dog. Eat, play and sleep, no working.\u201d Edenfield cried when Hall texted him a picture of his now grey-muzzled friend. \u201cI made sure to tell Amanda, \u2018That dog will not let you know when he\u2019s hurting,\u2019\u201d Edenfield said. \u201cThat\u2019s how much pride he has.\u201d It was a matter of pride, Hall came to believe, that made Caras seem so depressed in his first weeks living with her and her mom. Here he was in a house with three other dogs that didn\u2019t have a care in the world. Caras, diagnosed by a veterinarian with post-traumatic stress disorder, was far from the life he\u2019d known. He wouldn\u2019t eat or drink. \u201cIt seemed like he lost his will,\u201d said Diane Hall, Amanda\u2019s mom. \u201cI think it just took him time to realize we loved him.\u201d They surrounded him with toys, things that he was accustomed to having to earn in training exercises. Now, he\u2019d fall asleep with them in his mouth. And Hall noticed him less and less wanting to meticulously sniff every vehicle he passed. And Caras started wanting to run again. And it was a matter of pride, Hall thought, that made him want to, even as his disease-ridden spine made him tumble. Even when he couldn\u2019t move his hind legs, even when he was strapped to a wheeled harness in his final months, he seemed eager to go with Hall on jogs around Oxford Lake, where he liked to watch the ducks drift in the water. And it was a matter of pride, Hall thought, that made Caras seem so embarrassed when he became unable to control his bladder. Some days, he didn\u2019t have the strength to carry himself to his own food and water. And it was no way for him to have to live, she knew. And through tears in the hospital Friday, she told him it was OK to go. \u201cWe\u2019re safe,\u201d she told him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Died – 9\/25\/15 Handler – Leon Ingersoll Adpted By – Amanda Hall Retired service dog gets honorable sendoff It was a decision Amanda Hall, 24, felt unworthy to make. Who was she to say when it was time for a hero to go? A hero \u2014 that\u2019s how she came to know Caras, the Belgian …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":688,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,21],"tags":[48],"class_list":["post-686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-k9memorial","category-military","tag-mwd"],"yoast_head":"\n