KSNF/KODE — An area sheriff’s office honors one of its own.

Jasper County K-9 officer Skye collapsed this past Friday afternoon while preparing for duty.

She was taken to central pet care in Carthage for treatment of a heart attack when she was pronounced dead.

Deputies with the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office led what was called, “The Last Ride” ceremony Monday morning.

It started at Central Pet Care in Carthage and ended at the Humane Society in Joplin.

Officers and deputies from all over Jasper, Newton, and as far away as Barton County took part in the procession to honor the service of Jasper County K-9 officer Skye, who passed away this past weekend.

It meant a lot to Skye’s handler, deputy Joseph Deras.

“I know to most people she’s just a dog but I spend more time with her than I do with my own family, 24/7, you know, she was always with me, so to see support coming from as far away as it is, means a lot to me,” said Deputy Joseph Deras, Jasper County Sheriff’s Office, Skye’s Handler.

“K-9s are a part of the family, they’re a part of this organization and they serve as service to the community and a valuable service to the community and I think it’s appropriate we recognize that, and we honor that in this way and show support for that loss,” said Randee Kaiser, Sheriff, Jasper County Sheriff’s Office.

It wasn’t just the county that felt this loss, so did K-9 handlers from around Southwest Missouri, who had also worked with Deras and Skye.

“Oh it’s horrible, yeah, a lot of us spend a lot of time together, we work with each other’s dogs, you know, a lot of us are hiding when the dog comes and finds us, we’re around each other’s dogs quite a bit,” said Officer Josh Cahoon, Joplin Police Department K-9 Handler.

“So we specialize in tracking and trailing so you know we focused on missing children, runaways, people with dementia, Alzheimer’s like that we help find, we went as far as you know Stone County, where ever they needed us, we went,” said Deras.

Although he’s not in law enforcement, Steve Barlow met Skye through the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office Citizens academy.

he says he supports law enforcement, regardless of how many legs they walk on.

“It’s really important to respect all law enforcement on the job that they do,” said Steve Barlow, Carthage Resident.