DEMOREST — A Habersham County Sheriff's Office K-9 who lost his life in a fire at his handler's home last week was remembered Thursday afternoon.
Falco, a 5-year-old Belgian Malinois K-9 officer who also was a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, died Friday, Jan. 29, 2016.
A dual purpose K-9 who joined his handler and partner Cpl. Johnathan Thomas in 2013, Falco was used at the sheriff's office for narcotics detection, human tracking and suspect apprehension.
Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell opened the memorial service with remarks about the loss.
"We're here to say goodbye to a friend, a partner, playmate, a member of our department," Terrell said. "It's kind of surreal. I know Johnathan and Cayla have had a hard time with it, but you know what? We're going to get through this because we're going to get through it together.
"It means more than you know to see the brothers and sisters, comrades, mentors sitting out here," Terrell said. "It's going to be painful — it hurts, but we're going to make it."
Habersham County Sheriff's Office Chaplain Kenneth Franklin, who served with two dogs in Vietnam, said, "Bodily death cannot separate the heart and soul of a K-9 handler from the heart and soul of his dog.
"To call Falco a dog hardly seems to do him justice," Franklin said. "Although Falco had four legs, was covered in hair and had a tail, and he barked, in outward appearances it would seem that he was a dog, but to those who knew him well, he wasn't. He was a member of a family. To some he was a sheriff's deputy. He was a co-worker to others. He was a friend to some, and an acquaintance to many. He was one of God's creations just like you."
Victoria Stilwell of Atlanta, author, world-renowned dog trainer and star of Animal Planet's "It's Me or the Dog", has worked with Thomas and Falco as part of her online series "Guardians of the Night".
"I'm a dog trainer and I have the distinct honor of being able to record the lives of these very brave men and women and their K-9 partners," Stilwell said. "For the last two and one-half years, we've been filming a Web series called 'Guardians of the Night' so that people can see the real life of K-9. It was through this that I met Johnathan and Falco."
Stilwell and K-9 handlers from throughout the region spoke of the Thomas/Falco team and how once an officer becomes a K-9 handler the team is one because the actions of each are in tandem with the other.
Speaking to Thomas, Stilwell said, "How lucky this community was to have had you and Falco together and I hope they continue to be lucky as maybe you'll get another K-9, because you need to continue being a K-9 handler because your skills that you have now are unique. You're extremely good at what you do. You have this calmness and this really inner deep power within you that makes me proud — and all these K-9 handlers up here — to work with you."
Stilwell also shared a short video tribute she prepared to Falco.
"You're now part of our 'Guardians' family, so millions of people are going to see K-9 Falco," Stilwell told Thomas. "You know the impact that K-9 Bravo's funeral had last week when we had that video — three million people saw it. K-9 Falco is going to have the same impact, and so are you by educating people about the work you all do and how amazing these K-9s are."
As she concluded her remarks about Falco, Stilwell said, "He's going to be a Guardian of the Night now all the time. All the time he's going to be watching over us."
Lt. Tonya Elrod of the Habersham County Sheriff's Office and Kayla Arnold coordinated the memorial efforts, with McGahee-Griffin & Stewart Funeral Home of Cornelia in charge of arrangements.
"We were honored to be a part of honoring Falco and his service to Habersham County," said Zane Stewart. "This memorial service also would not have been possible without the help of Jim Watkins at Northeast Georgia Pet Crematory."
Other speakers at the memorial service included Officer Shawn C. Humphreys, K-9 handler for Lawrenceville Police Department; Deputy Jason Cotton, K-9 handler for Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office; Deputy Heath Zeigler, K-9 handler for Habersham County Sheriff's Office; and Pastor Mike Franklin of The Torch, also a chaplain for the Habersham County Sheriff's Office.
"In a world of all this technology that we have, we still always resort back to man's best friend," Humphreys said. "Not only are they our best friends, they're our partners, they're our family."
