Veteran and bomb-sniffing dog to be reunited after long custody battle

A veteran will soon be reunited with the bomb sniffing dog he trained and served with.

The reunion comes after a drawn-out custody battle that may have cost the North Carolina Deputy Sheriff his job.

Howard is a retired bomb sniffing dog that served overseas with Alex Reimer, a US soldier who trained and cared for Howard.

Reimer finished his tour of duty in 2013, and upon returning home to Colorado, began to look for Howard, reports Life With Dogs.

That search led to the discovery this October that Howard had also retired – and had been adopted by Sheriff’s Deputy Deon Fuller in Hoke County, North Carolina.

Reimer, retired and suffering from PTSD, desperately wanted Howard back. Fuller refused, claiming he had adopted the dog fair and square.

But Reimer wasn’t going to give up without a fight. After discovering that the dog was living in Fayetteville North Carolina, he had a friend go and check up on Howard. That friend reported that he had found Howard tethered to a tree in the backyard.

“It’s just tough knowing your best friend is out there tied to a tree and not being taken care of to the best of their ability,“ Reimer told WRAL.com.

Fuller still wouldn’t budge, so Reimer decided to set up a Facebook page titled “Bring Howard Home,” which today has more than 35,000 likes. Reimer also offered Fuller $1,500 as compensation for giving up the dog.

Fuller turned down the money, reports WRAL.com, instead demanding that everyone who had liked the “Bring Howard Home” Facebook donate $10 each for the dog.

He also threatened to use his position to look up the IP addresses of the Facebook supporters and then sue them.

In late October, Fuller was relieved of his duties as Sheriff’s Deputy, according to WRAL.com. Though the Sheriff for Hoke County says the decision had nothing to do with the battle for Howard, Fuller believes otherwise.

Fuller was still insisting on keeping Howard, but must have had a recent change of heart. The following announcement was posted to the Facebook page on Sunday:

The joyful post has already been liked almost 12,000 times and has more than 5,000 shares from followers around the world.

Commenter Maureen Taggart sent congratulations from across the pond, writing, “Happy dance here in Scotland so happy for the both of them,” while Suzzie Tripoli wrote from Italy, “I am so happy I am crying happy tears. Cannot wait to video of the reunion!”

Check back at the other Facebook page devoted to Howard’s cause, as soldier and dog should be reunited any moment now.