Through all the pomp, Sully remains by Bush’s side
Sully the service dog held vigil by his master’s casket in Washington, a poignant reminder of one of the late President George H.W. Bush’s legislative initiatives — that service animals must be allowed to accompany their owners.
Sully, a 2-year-old Labrador retriever, lay by the 41st president’s casket in the company of people who came to commemorate Bush’s signing of the Ameri- cans with Disabilities Act, the 1990 law that, among its many provisions that remain in effect, required businesses that normally bar pets to allow access to service dogs.
A photo of the lab with Bush’s flag-draped casket in Houston earlier this week went viral, as a sign of canine loyalty. The pup traveled to Washington with the Milton native’s funeral retinue.
Yesterday morning, officials issued a two-minute warning for Sully’s arrival in the Capitol Rotunda. Sully padded in, his leash held by Valerie Cramer, America’s VetDogs service dog program manager.
At her command, he lay down — and threw a glance over his shoulder at the photographers scrambling to get his photo.
Sully is headed back to America’s VetDogs in Smithtown, N.Y., where he was born and trained. Then he’ll go for training at Walter Reed to help brace and retrieve items for the injured veterans receiving care there.
“After Mrs. Bush’s death, general companionship was a big part of Sully’s job,” John Miller, president and CEO of America’s VetDogs, told The Associated Press. “One of the things that I think was important to the president was the rest command, where Sully would rest his head on the president’s lap.”