Died – 10\/11\/19
\nHandler – Cpl. Cosme Mu\u00f1iz III<\/p>\n
Palmview police in mourning beloved K-9 <\/p>\n
Officers from across the Rio Grande Valley, despite the brisk weather, lined up Friday afternoon in front of the parks and recreation center here to honor one of their own: retired K-9 officer A\u2019zeuz. A\u2019zeuz\u2019s partner, Cpl. Cosme Mu\u00f1iz III of Palmview, approached his wife, Gracie Mu\u00f1iz, who was sitting in a police car parked in front of the building, holding A\u2019zeuz\u2019s urn. Cosme paused, solemnly saluting the ashes of his partner of 12 years before taking the urn. And like countless times before, walked with his best friend into the building. A Belgian malinois breed, A\u2019zeuz was 14 years old when he died on Oct. 11. He served the Palmview Police Department for 12 years after flying from France to become Cosme\u2019s partner in 2007. He was used for narcotic detection, tracking, suspect apprehension and officer protection. In his time of service, A\u2019zeuz collected many state and national recognitions, including seventh place at the 2010 National Narcotic Detector Dog Association conference, and eighth at the 2012 Texas Narcotic Officers Association Conference. His largest marijuana and cocaine seizures were 6,660 pounds and 20 kilograms, respectively. The audience of officers and family members held a salute as Cosme and Gracie placed the urn atop an altar adorned with A\u2019zeuz\u2019s possessions \u2014 his badge, vest and awards \u2014 along with candles and wreaths of white flowers. A blue table runner was laid at the table\u2019s center.Cosme took his time placing the urn, then joined everyone else in a salute. \u201cHe was the perfect partner, he was always there for me, as I was for him,\u201d Cosme said, who has been on the Palmview police force for 13 years. \u201cThe hardest and most difficult decision of my law enforcement career was the day I had to say goodbye to my partner and longtime companion.\u201d Gracie, who was first to offer a eulogy, spoke of how safe and proud he made her, calling herself his \u201cadopted mom.\u201d \u201cWhen he retired, he got to stay home with me,\u201d Gracie said. \u201cI never had to put a security system in my house because I had him.\u201d Like the way most mothers with children in the police field, Gracie was proud of A\u2019zeuz. \u201cHe was a four-legged officer,\u201d she said through tears. \u201cHe was there like everyone else. He gave so much of himself to our family, to the community and to the state.\u201d At the end of her speech, Gracie looked at her husband and said, \u201cBabe, I love you. Thank you for giving me A\u2019zeuz.\u201d A slideshow of A\u2019zeuz played, which further showed the contrast between his life at work and at home. In some photos, he was with Cosme in front of their police car and in front of large seizures. In others, he was seen taking a nap with Cosme on the floor, and being hugged by his \u201csiblings.\u201d Alisha Pe\u00f1a, 27, is the daughter of Cosme, and said that A\u2019zeuz was just like any other dog. \u201cHe had a job, but he was also a regular dog,\u201d she said. \u201cHe would get into work mode, and it was like a light switch.\u201d Alisha\u2019s younger siblings, Melissa and Arnold agreed when she added that his favorite food were hotdogs, admitting that they would give them to him more often than they were supposed to.Cosme also referred to A\u2019zeuz\u2019s dedication to his job. \u201cHis favorite thing to do was patrol work,\u201d he said in his eulogy. \u201cHe would be ready to work the minute he would see me put on this uniform. He would wait for me at the door barking, sitting and saying, \u2018Let\u2019s go, time to go find the bad guys.\u2019\u201d He also noted that he was a perfect fit to the Mu\u00f1iz family. \u201cHe became part of my family, a big brother to my children, who were small at the time,\u201d Cosme said. \u201cA\u2019zeuz knew what he had to do, as if saying, \u2018I\u2019m here to protect you all for the rest of my life.\u2019 And protect he did.\u201d For the final salute, many police officers lined up with their K-9s, and one by one, walked up to A\u2019zeuz\u2019s altar and saluted. As his last command, Deputy Javier Solis of Hidalgo County shouted \u201ccouche,\u201d which is French for \u201cdown.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Died – 10\/11\/19 Handler – Cpl. Cosme Mu\u00f1iz III Palmview police in mourning beloved K-9 Officers from across the Rio Grande Valley, despite the brisk weather, lined up Friday afternoon in front of the parks and recreation center here to honor one of their own: retired K-9 officer A\u2019zeuz. A\u2019zeuz\u2019s partner, Cpl. Cosme Mu\u00f1iz III …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7766,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[22],"class_list":["post-7764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-k9memorial","tag-tx"],"yoast_head":"\n