Allow me to add a bit of personal perspective on pets. Over the last 20 years, I have had three beloved pets die in my arms–one from more or less natural causes, and the other two by euthanasia. The two dogs who were euthanized were suddenly and unexpectedly taken ill, so the loss was compounded by the shock of the rapid change. Not a day passes that we (my wife and I) do not grieve for, and fondly remember these two dogs, who during their short lives together had become best pals.

What makes the loss of a dog so difficult is the inherent innocence of these animals. When you euthanize, you bear the added weight of having played-God, so to speak.

But honoring “war dogs” and “law enforcement horses” in the same fashion we would honor their human handlers insults every human throughout history whose life has been given in sworn fealty to a cause.

A fellow bugler/trumpeter, Norbert Albertson, made the following observation, and I cannot improve upon it:

“A man has one life, and when he dies, Taps is played for him once and
forever, by one man alone, who stands for all of us.

“Anything more than that is just show business, and a degradation of the
honor paid to the dead, in my opinion.”