Heartbreaking stories aren’t always something we want to hear about, but thankfully, some of them come with a sense of justice. For one officer and his police dog, justice was all they had left after a terrible event.

Officer Ryan Davis got a call to investigate a break-in in Canton, Ohio.

Officer Davis had been with the force for a while and getting these sorts of calls weren’t all that foreign for him. Thankfully, he always had his best friend on the job with him, a German shepherd named Jethro.

Jethro isn’t just a dog, he’s a trained police K-9!

K-9 unit dogs are highly skilled in various areas. Some of them are trained for drug search and seizure and others are more skilled in defense and combat, but regardless of the kind you have, they make for amazing partners on the job.

When Officer Davis got to the grocery store to investigate the break-in, it turned into a sad event.

A man named Kelontre Barefield had attempted to rob the store and when Officer Davis and Jethro arrived, tried to fight. When Jethro was on the scene, Kelontre took out his gun and shot him, killing him.

Understandably, Officer Davis was heartbroken and hurt.

The death of his friend wasn’t in isolation, either. Many on the police force came out to attend Jethro’s funeral and comfort the man who lost his dog and friend.

Jethro had been with Davis since he was 8-weeks old.

The two had seen hundreds of hours together and spend countless days hanging out and playing, even while off the job. When Jethro was shot, he was 3-years-old – much too young for any dog to die.

When the case finally went to court, Davis was able to breathe a sigh of relief as justice was served.

Apart from shooting Jethro, Kelontre had assaulted an officer, robbed a store, and fled. Things weren’t looking good for his sentence. As the ruling was released, Davis was able to rest easy knowing that the man who killed his dog and threatened his own life wasn’t getting off easy.

Kelontre was given 6 years for each charge, finally amounting to a total of 45 years behind bars.

With the ruling coming out, Officer Davis couldn’t have been pleased, but we have to think that he was satisfied. Justice had been served and his friend wasn’t dead for no reason – they had caught the man who attempted to rob and kill others.

Since the event, the Canton K-9 unit has received over 2000 letters!

Eric Stanboro runs the office and has been absolutely flooded with mail from people supporting the unit and expressing their condolences for the tragedy. Currently, the unit is working with local authorities and is trying to get the sentence increased for anyone who kills K-9 officers. If they succeed, it will greatly help the officer’s peace of mind in knowing that their dogs are protected by the law as they themselves enforce it.

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Source: The Pet Needs, Daily Police