Hero’s last walk
Officer loses pal as beloved K-9 is put to rest
She was the finest of New York's furriest.
Angel — a 5-year-old Emergency Services K-9 — was honored by more than 20 saluting officers and an NYPD aviation flyover as she took her final walk Monday into the Rosebank Animal Hospital in Staten Island.
The hero bloodhound, who was diagnosed with cancer in August, was escorted by her heartbroken partner, Officer Manuel Orellana.
“She was a trooper, man. She was strong,” Orellana told the Daily News after the suffering pooch was euthanized. “She's gonna be missed. She was a good dog.”
According to Orellana, Angel's accomplishments on the force included finding two missing autistic children in Brooklyn in separate cases.
She also tracked down criminals. "(Angel) found a big time perpetrator over a 2-mile track,” he recalled.
Lt. Richard Sanossian also remembered Angel as a special talent when it came to tracking.
“A very good dog,” Sanossian said. “Unbelievable nose.”
While bloodhounds typically search fields and dirt, Angel's assignments frequently included an added degree of difficulty.
“This dog is tracking on asphalt in an urban environment, which makes it even harder,” he said.
Orellano lost more than just a partner Monday. He and Angel lived together in their Farmington, Long Island, home.
"Just me and her,” he said. “She was my woman.”
The grieving officer conceded his partner wasn't above stirring up a little mischief from time to time.
“She'd always get herself into trouble,” he recalled. “I have a garden in my backyard. I'll go out there and she'll have an eggplant in her mouth, or a cucumber."
Sanossian said Angel was given only months to live after the cancer was discovered and responded well to chemotherapy treatments before things took a bad turn last weekend.
Also bidding farewell to the four-legged hero on Monday was her sister LuLu, who joined the force with her in Jan.uary 2017.
Angel and LuLu were named in honor of fallen detectives Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Lu, who were fatally ambushed in their squad car in 2014 while on patrol in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
Angel's name refers to Ramos' faith — he was deeply involved in his church, say fellow officers. Lulu took her name from Lu's last name.
Though Ramos' widow Maritza never met Angel, other members of the fallen officer's family had. Sanossian said they opted not to attend the dog's farewell because it would be too emotional.
Angel's tour of duty with the NYPD brought her an award from the American Kennel Club for being an excellent service dog. Her spirit lives on at the Instagram account @k9.angel .