K9 Sam

This is Samson - Sam for short. Sam was with the Watauga County Sheriff's Office in North Carolina for almost three years. He was owned by my husband, T. E. Wilson. They were like any other K-9 Team - inseparable! The dog was his friend, partner, and most of all to me, his protector. He lost his beloved K-9 friend Jan 27, 2005. They were working and my husband had to go in the office for some things. When he came out, another officer wanted to ride with my husband. Tim said "okay," "Let me clean out the front seat of my car, so you can get in." The officer knowing how protective Sam was, asked, "Will he bark at me?" My husband said, "Yes, you know he will!" But when Tim got in the car, he realized that the cold, wet nose and the drooling tongue weren't sitting up between the seats like usual. He looked back at Sam and saw that he was lying down and wasn't breathing. In what seemed to be the longest time in Tim's life, he drove his partner to the Vet. There he discovered nothing could be done and came to realize that Sam may have had been poisoned. What this so hard on my husband, besides losing his trusty companion is that he had the windows cracked on the patrol car - and that is something that he normally doesn't do. Sam was very healthy and an excellent drug dog. My husband and Sam had busted many, many meth labs in our area in the short time that they had worked together - plus lots of other things. Recently they were on America's Most Wanted regarding two missing children in our area. I will never be able to know the bond and love that they both had for each other. I do know that the partner he had will never be replaced and that he worked hard loving his master, protecting him and his work force with every breath he took.

I know that my husband will always think of his trusty friend with every step he takes and he knows that his buddy lived a happy life doing what he loved, serving him and his community to the best of his ability. I would like to say thank you to everyone that supports their local Law Enforcement and K-9's. I think it is sad that there are so many that take for granted the protection given by such wonderful, special people and their dogs, who risk their lives everyday so that we can be safe. God Bless every one of those special people.

Lori Wilson-Vilas