Pain of Duke's loss easily understandable

I really sympathize with all the employees at the Champaign County Courthouse and Duke's handler and his family in regard to losing Duke, the bomb-sniffing dog.

He was really beautiful and sounded like such a loyal friend.

I, too, lost a great protector and dear friend. My Kobi was a big, beautiful, all-black German shepherd who wasn't even 4 when he passed away. He also did not make it through emergency surgery and was taken way too soon from our family.

Some people will say he was just a dog, but they truly do not understand the bonds we form with these animals and what great joy they bring to our lives. Now I have another German shepherd, and I love her dearly.

But she is not Kobi. He was truly one of a kind, as I know Duke was.

AILEEN O'DEA

Mahomet