Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words:
From the Daily Treat an animal blog at Discovery:
The dog of slain Petty Officer Jon Tumilson refused to leave his side during the Navy SEAL’s funeral earlier this week in Rockford, Iowa. The heartbreaking photo taken by his cousin, Lisa Pembleton, shows Tumilson’s dog Hawkeye lying by the casket.
Navy SEAL U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Jon T. Tumilson was among the 30 American troops killed August 6 when Taliban insurgents downed their Chinook helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade. At his funeral in Iowa, his dog Hawkeye paid his last respects, walking up to the casket, lying down in front of it, and heaving a sigh.
You can’t tell me they don’t have feelings. You can’t tell me they don’t mourn. And you can’t tell me that they aren’t the most loyal friends of all time.
Dogs. Now go adopt a best friend if you don’t have one. And give the one you have an extra treat today. Mine is laying right next to me as I type this, aren’t you boy? Good boy! We’ll go for a run later.
Thanks to the Injury Expert, Will Carroll at Sports Illustrated for pointing this one to me.