Service dogs are trained to provide service, not to react, not to question their owner and not to protect. Their job is merely to serve. And that is exactly what a service dog ironically named Bullet did for his wheelchair bound owner, Sarena Dawn Moore, who died on Oct. 1 when a gunman opened fire in the classroom at Umpqua Community College.
When the gunman ordered everyone on the ground, Moore obeyed, but the gunman had other ideas and ordered her back in her wheelchair, according to CNN. Once she was back in it, he shot her, with Bullet helpless by her side.
"That's what he is trained to do," Travis Dow, Moore's fiancé said. "He's trained to stay right next to her no matter what."
So when Oregon police returned Bullet to Dow the day after the shooting, Dow was thrilled to see him, according to the Dodo. "Bullet became a piece of Sarena, and I was happy to get him back," he said.
But Bullet was not himself and But Dow worries about the grieving dog, who had to witness the horror.
"He's been acting really droopy. He goes to her door and lays down. Cause he's used to going in the room and sleeping in the room at night." said Dow. "He was her world. He was not only her dog, he was her best friend...besides me,"
Both Dow and Bullet are now navigating through the grieving process together, missing the woman that meant the world to them both, and wishing that day had a happier ending.
Moore believed in the power of animals to heal. That's just one of the traits Dow loved about her. She was going to college for get a business degree and had dreams of opening a horse therapy ranch after graduation.
