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You never know when the best friend you could ever hope to have will suddenly appear in your life and change it forever. That was what happened to Ohio Sheriff Dan McClelland when he picked out a puppy to train as a drug sniffer. From day one the pair were inseparable, bonded as much by love as mutual respect.
McClelland named his little dog “Midge.” She was a Chihuahua-rat terrier mix and the smallest in her litter. Sheriff McClelland could pick her up and hold her with one hand, and Midge is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the smallest police dog in the world. But size never deterred Midge from doing her job. She was an excellent drug sniffer, able to locate drugs in cars without tearing the upholstery or leaving marks. She could get under vehicles and squeeze into cubbyholes. McClelland took her to work every day, and the police dog had her own day bed in pride of place right beside the sheriff’s desk.
Midge and Sheriff McClelland worked together for a decade before he retired in 2016. McClelland had served Ohio’s Geauga County for 44 years and was well known as a conscientious sheriff who loved his job. But he wasn’t as famous as Midge. McClelland used to joke to his friends that whenever he and Midge were riding in a car in a local parade, people would point and say, “Hey, there’s Midge and whatshisname.”
Last month, Dan McClelland passed away in a hospital after a long battle with cancer. He was 67. Midge died mere hours after McClelland, at age 16. People who knew the pair said that Midge died of a broken heart. Others commented that Midge didn’t want her best friend journeying to heaven all on his own. Both may be true. McClelland’s family held a funeral that honored both man and dog. They were buried together, inseparable to the very end. (The Japan Times)
This article was provided by The Japan Times Alpha.