Kristen and Dave Glasser had big dreams. The dog lovers were building a life together with their two young kids. Milo was the newest member of the family.
“We loved dogs,” Kristen says as she fought tears. “We had plans some day to have tons of dogs.”
But in May 2016, that dream was shattered when Phoenix Police Officer Dave Glasser was killed in the line of duty.
“After Dave passed, it was hard,” Kristen says. “And two very large young dogs was a lot to take care of. I tried and tried and tried, but we moved to be closer to my family, which came with a much smaller back yard than he was used to. And it just got to the point where it was more than I could take care of by myself.”
Kristen made the difficult decision to rehome Milo. She was put in touch with Myla Marovich, the communications supervisor at the Phoenix Police Communications Bureau.
Myla fell in love with Milo, and with names so similar, it seemed like it was meant to be. She took Milo into her home, and not long after, decided to bring him into the office.
“Milo became our support K-9 in March and that was kind of right at the beginning of things kind of turning to the hectic 2020 that we’re in right now,” Marovich explains. “It was perfect timing and, right now, it means the world to all of us to have him here.”
Milo was sponsored and trained through The Fetch Foundation, a nonprofit organization. Once Milo had his K-9 Good Citizen certification, he started work at the Phoenix Police Department. Milo roams the Communications Bureau during the work week, giving and getting love — something he comes by quite naturally.
“It was just an amazing series of events that led him to be able to come back to the police family and do what he’s doing here in communications by showing love that Dave Glasser was so good at to begin with,” Marovich says.
This summer, Kristen and her two children reunited with Milo after nearly two years apart. One member of the little family reunion was so clearly missing, but Kristen says there is some comfort in seeing this story come full circle.
“You always want to find a reason for things,” Kristen explains. “And just him, kind of finding his purpose through all of this, I feel like this is where he was kind of destined to be. And what he was destined to do. And we were just a little story along that way. And bigger picture for me, that just gives me hope that through all this, there is a bigger story being written. Giving him up was one of the hardest things I did, so to see that come into a positive thing is…it gives me hope that there is more positive to come.”
