Jon-Jon was just a dog, it's true. But what does it mean to be just a dog? Does it mean that Jon-Jon didn't feel pain or that he didn't understand what was said to him? Did it mean that when he was doing what he was bred and trained to do and was wagging his tail that he didn't feel some form of happiness?
Or that, when school children were petting him, he didn't recognize the love they felt for him?
Some have questioned the way Douglas County plans to remember Jon-Jon, saying a dog doesn't deserve a memorial service, or a motorcade or any of the other accoutrements that would accompany the burial of a law officer. They say we are treating a dog like a person and feel that is wrong.
We know the difference between a dog and a person. A dog would never question a memorial service for an innocent who died a horrible tragic death.
We know that Jon-Jon wasn't a real deputy with a badge and a gun, but he was a true servant of the people of Douglas County.
He helped protect our community in ways a person couldn't.
Jon-Jon was able to sniff out drugs that might otherwise have gone undetected. That was his job, his skill, his raison d'etre.
That's because Jon-Jon was just a dog.
Good boy, Jon-Jon, good dog.
Goodbye.
