Texas Service Dog With Cancer Takes Final Trip Home After 250+ Flights
I will be honest with you, after watching this video last week it did bring tears to my eyes. It is a fantastic and moving story with a very sad ending. From time to time there are things that just move us and affect us in different ways and this video coming out of Dallas, Texas last week was one of those things.
The video was posted by Southwest Airlines about a military service dog who had flown over 250 times with the airlines as she was making her final trip back to Love Field in Dallas to live out the rest of her life because she had a form of cancer that was incurable.
Kaya, the German Shepherd service dog
Kaya was a service dog who traveled the country with her handler, Marine Corps veteran Cole Lyle, to help military veterans with their mental health issues. She was extremely comforting to those veterans she came into contact with. Kaya was also instrumental in the creation of a new program called the PAWS Act. This program provides training for canines that will ultimately assist veterans dealing with post-traumatic disorder.
The video, posted by Southwest Airlines, is very moving as the pilot pays tribute to his special passenger and her handler.
We have the solemn honor of taking her on what will be her last flight as she goes home to rest where she was born and first met Cole.
Arriving at the gate, Kaya was carried off of the plane and rode on a special cart because of her medical condition before returning home. Cole Lyle tweeted a couple of days later with the sad news that his partner whom he had traveled the U.S. with so many times to help veterans cope, passed away and that she is no longer in pain.
We are extremely thankful for special people like Cole Lyle and canines like Kaya and the PAWS Act. During her life, Kaya helped Cole and others through some dark and difficult times. You can read more about how the pair met and she received her training. Kaya would have turned 9 in April.