On October 1, 2015 there was a mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. Nine people died and nine others were injured. One of those killed was Sarena Moore.
Although Sarena was in a wheelchair due to severe sciatica, she obeyed the gunman and laid on the floor, as he told her and everyone else to do. He then told her to get back into her chair. Again, she obeyed him, but he still shot her.
This tragedy unfolded, not only in front of other humans, but also in front of Sarena’s service dog, Bullet.
Sarena rescued Bullet and their connection was instant. She immediately began to train him as her service dog. Part of that training is that he never leaves her side. Because of that, when Sarena’s fiance, Travis Dow, received the horrible news that the love of his life had died, he began to wonder if Bullet had also been shot.
Thankfully, Bullet remained unharmed. Police reunited Travis with the pooch the day after the shooting. Travis says that it’s clear the dog knows his human isn’t coming home, but also says that the two are bringing much needed comfort to one another.
“Bullet became a piece of Sarena, and I was happy to get him back.”
You can see a video of Travis speaking more about Sarena and her bond with Bullet at CNN.
Both Bullet and Travis have a long journey of healing ahead of them and they suffered an unspeakable loss, but we are happy that they have one another to lean on during this time.
