Hundreds gather for goodbye to K9 Rocky: wivb.com

It was a sad remembrance as Niagara County Sheriff James Voutour let a memorial service to K-9 Deputy "Rocky" in the Starpoint Central School Auditorium.

Hundreds of Law Enforcement officers and a number of their K-9 counterparts from around NY state remembered "Rocky," who died in the line of duty, backing up his handler and partner Deputy Craig Beiter. As a member of the NCSO I cannot remember a time that I saw Deputy Beiter without Rocky at his side. The video that the Sheriff's office put together for last night's memorial, was both touching and uplifting. I echo the comments made by a number of the officials in attendance including Niagara Falls Police Chief John Chella that Beiter get back into the K-9 training business as soon as possible.

"Rocky was not only my friend and partner, but as Sgt. Hildreth said, my defender. As my wife said, he always made sure I came home at night safe and sound back to my kids and back to her" .

Rocky fell 60 feet to his death after jumping a wall on the third floor of the former Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center building where he was aiding in the search for a burglary suspect.

(From WIVB TV)

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