GOSHEN COUNTY – A remarkable sight could be seen on US-Highway 26 Friday afternoon. Slowly headed towards Torrington from the State Line with all lights on, a long convoy of police cars representing nearly every Goshen department headed towards town on their way to the Goshen County Sheriff’s Office.

With every vehicle respectfully pulling over to let the long line of law enforcement pass peacefully, a  humbling sight like that could only mean one thing.

A dog did not earn the term, man’s best friend for no reason. The term is even more so when they not only remained infinite loyal companions, but dedicated their whole life to ensuring the peace and safety of human beings.

Perhaps the most loyal and devoted Goshen County dog of them all was laid to rest Friday afternoon, with a well-deserved final sendoff.

A dedicated and passionate K-9 of the Goshen County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO), Si was originally purchased by the department back in May of 2015. Rendering to longtime owner and handler, Sergeant Herbie Irons, Si was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma. At first, he didn’t exactly have the ideal situation for a dog that would grow into a seasoned and reliable K-9.

“A family first took him and couldn’t deal with him,” Irons said. “So, they gave him to a pound where a K-9 handler from Oklahoma sided really well with him, took him from the pound and taught him narcotics and tracking.”

It wouldn’t be long from that point where Si would eventually find his way from the humid plains of the Midwest, to the deserts and mountains of Wyoming.

“A deputy from here purchased him from his handler at the time, and brought him up here,” Irons continued. “That was May of 2015, and that handler had him approximately one year due to taking new employment out of state. At that point, Si was given to another handler who had him through one more year.”

That handler happened to be Irons father.

Of course it would be during this time that Irons would meet Si. Irons did not know at the time that he had inadvertently met a friend and partner who would be with him, on and off-duty, for the rest of his life.

“My father had become too busy with other duties around here, and felt that the dog would be better use to someone else. At that point we went through seniority, and he asked me if I wanted him. I said yes.”

Si was given to Irons in February of 2017, and both would go through various training programs and requirements together with the Casper Police Department (CPD). 

Preparation for the two would prove to be a grind as both learned the rules and regulations of police and K-9 training, as Irons and Si would head over to Casper every single weekend for three months, attending grueling training sessions with the CPD.

“We didn’t have a day off for three months, so that was an experience” Irons continued. “Si already knew his stuff during that process. We taught Si how to do evidence collection, and his job for us was primarily narcotics. He was taught how to properly indicate an owner of four different narcotics; marijuana, methamphetamine cocaine and heroin. He also did trailing which he was certified in. We used him for evidence collection on a few different calls, and we had to recertify every single year since then.”

Once all the proper Wyoming K-9 certifications were complete, it didn’t take long for both Si and Irons to form a personal and professional partnership that would last for nearly the next ten years. It would prove to be years of devotion to keeping other safe, and keeping dangerous drugs out of reach.

“We were on night shift for four or five years,” Irons continued. “We would go out making proactive traffic stops, just attempting to get narcotics off the street. He’d been deployed a whole bunch of times, and did very good with a great success rate. On traffic stops, I’d be able to smell weed but sometimes couldn’t find it. That’s where he would find partially hidden compartments in vehicles all the time, and would occasionally find more than just narcotics. He would put an indication on a vehicle where he would then search, find narcotics and then find additional illegal thigs that were happening.”

After years of providing essential narcotic duties with the GCSO, Irons along with his colleagues felt the time had come to let the veteran K-9 take a step back on policing duties, and enjoy a simple life as a dog in a safe home.

“His last certification was May of 2022, so we ended up pulling him out of active duty and retired him in May of 2023,” Irons said. “So, he just retired not too long ago. The Sherriff allowed me to bring him to work for the last few months before we had to put him down. He ended up having kidney failure issues, which resulted in him having to be euthanized, and that occurred on the 12 of September.”

Although unfortunately Si did not get to enjoy his retirement for long, Irons was reassuring in his reflection of the dog. Irons noted that not only was Si a loyal and lovable companion for so many years, but it must be acknowledged that Si had a level of experience and training very few humans can even relate to.

Despite having a powerful professional relationship, while handling numerous drug-related situations, Irons kind-heartedly was remindful that Si was undeniably a close friend and family member who cannot be replaced.

“Just having him there with me, and having him around was just the best thing,” Irons said. “He would get to go home with me every night, and he had been through so many people. I was his fifth handler from when he was adopted by his first family. We really had built a strong connection with each other. He was just so used to every year of his life getting kicked off to someone else. After a couple years we were pretty tight, but probably the biggest struggle that we had was just getting use to each other.”

Although Si was an unbelievably indispensable and valuable asset to the GCSO, Irons is optimistic and hopeful that the K-9 program will continue in years to come. Irons believes that his experience and knowledge in working with K-9’s can be passed on to those who are next in line, eager to take on the crucial responsibility.

“One of the things I really enjoyed doing with Si was presentations for the senior centers, as well as for the entire school district. We assisted Nebraska schools in doing searches for them, did yearly K-9 sniffs and ran lockers to make sure there were no drugs in the schools. But doing presentations for the schools, going in and having people meet Si and showing everyone what his job was, it seemed like the kids in the community really liked him. He was good for the community, which is why I would like to see the K-9 program keep going. We will have to see what the future brings on that.”

When asked for a last word on anything one would want to know or understand about his resting friend, Irons smiled and responded with just a few soft words.

“He was a good boy.”