“We were bonded by duty and love!”
When former Air Force Staff Sgt. Angela Lowe’s canine partner was being retired, she longed to give him a fur-ever home. But she had just a 7-day window to pick Szultan up. Unable to get time off from work and school, she worried for his future… until a caring K9 rescue made it their mission to bring him home!
Air Force Staff Sgt. Angela Lowe’s heart was heavy. A medical discharge was ending her military career and, even harder, she had to say goodbye to her K9 partner, Szultan.
Angela had been Szultan’s first handler. The pair had a rocky start. The 70-pound shepherd had a stubborn streak and the aggressive temperament that a military dog requires. But, in time, he and Angela became a perfectly meshed team. He followed every instruction, and during quiet moments, he’d nuzzle her affectionately with the top of his head.
For a little more than a year, Angela and Szultan worked together at South Carolina’s Joint Base Charleston, where they checked incoming vehicles for explosives and performed sweeps of the Navy’s Weapons Station and Nuclear Power School. “I’m proud to have served with you,” she gave Szultan a final salute and hug on her last day, and there were tears in her eyes as her comrade headed off with his new handler.
No dog left behind
Angela moved to Kentucky, where she lived with an adopted bloodhound, Dixie, and a shepherd duo, Addie and Jackson. But Szultan always held a special place in her heart. I hope he’s okay and happy, Angela thought each morning as she filled dishes with kibble.
Four years and a move to Pittsburgh passed, and one day in January of 2022, Angela received an Instagram message from now-10-year-old Szultan’s handler. Our buddy’s about to retire. Would you be interested in adopting him? But you’ll have to act fast.
Angela knew that there was only a seven-day window between Szultan’s last day on the job and finding a home. Because of their aggressive temperament, military dogs don’t often get adopted by civilians. The hope is one of their handlers will take them. Szultan’s current handler, and only partner since Angela, couldn’t adopt him.
I have to take him, Angela thought, fearing he’d otherwise be euthanized.
But it’s up to the adopter to transport the dog to its new home. Angela was working full-time and going to school and couldn’t get time off.
Determined to save Szultan, she reached out to Mission K9 Rescue (Missionk9Rescue.org), an organization that helps reunite retired military dogs with their handlers.
I don’t know how you guys work, but here’s my situation, her plea began.
A forever home “This came through on our Instagram feed,” Louisa Kastner told Kristen Maurer, founder and president of Mission K9 Rescue. Reading Angela’s assessment of Szultan’s strong temperament, they knew she was his only chance. The clock was ticking. ticking.
“We’ll make it happen,” Kristen called and told Angela. Whenever possible, Kristen and Louisa arrange for dogs to be flown to their new homes. But they worried about Szultan flying on his own. So they flew from their home base in Houston to South Carolina, where they rented a minivan and bought a kennel, thinking they’d have to crate Szultan for the 650-mile drive to Pittsburgh. But when they picked Szultan up, as Kristen reached to fasten a leash, he gave her fingers a friendly lick.
She’d seen it many times. Somehow the dog knows their working life is over. They relax, and become great, loving pets.
Szultan rode the whole way curled up in his dog bed. Angela was outside when they arrived, excited but nervous about how Szultan would react to his new home and her other dogs.
But Szultan climbed out of the minivan, stretched, then calmly sniffed his new surroundings.
“I’m not sure he remembers me,” Angela said, until finally Szultan stepped up and began rubbing her with the top of his head just like he used to.
Tears filled Angela’s eyes as Szultan began frolicking with Addie, Jackson and Dixie, and that night, he climbed onto Angela’s bed and curled up beside her.
“I didn’t know how much I missed Szultan until we were reunited,” she says. “You have your pets and of course you love them. But it’s different with a K9 partner. It’s indescribable how bonded you are. We’re lucky to have found each other again.” —Bill Holton.
