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VERNAL — A K-9 with Uintah County Sheriff's Office, lost to cancer last week, was remembered by his handler as hardworking, curious and trustworthy.
"If Aries' kennel inside our patrol vehicle was left open even slightly, Aries would try his hardest to get into the passenger seat to see what was going on," Uintah County Sheriff's Deputy Kyle Fuller said in a statement.
A law enforcement procession escorted Aries' remains from the sheriff's office to Fuller's home Wednesday morning.
Aries — a small Belgian Malinois who had an "enormous amount of energy," according to Fuller — needed to be euthanized after being diagnosed with cancer and dealing with stomach complications.
The dog was the first K-9 in the Uintah Basin to be trained and certified in explosive detection, Fuller said.
"Aries was deployed multiple times on bomb threats, homicide investigations, probation checks, tracking fleeing subjects and evidence location that extended beyond the boundaries of Uintah County," Fuller said, adding that the canine trained "exceptionally hard" for hours every week.
Fuller recalled always knowing that he could trust that Aries "would not miss anything" when he and the K-9 checked for bomb threats after others had been evacuated.
The deputy also said that Aries would keep a keen eye out when Fuller got out of his patrol vehicle on traffic stops and would always make sure his handler was safe.
"Aries would alert me if anyone walked up on our patrol vehicle," Fuller said.
This gave the deputy "peace of mind in a time when officers are being shot while eating or just fueling up their vehicles," Fuller added.
The sheriff's office added in a statement, "We are grateful for Aries and his handler, deputy Kyle Fuller, for their commitment to keeping our community safe."
