Man’s best friend

Nothing has touched me more in the last few days than this picture of Sully, Pres. George H.W. Bush’s service dog, lying beside his master’s casket.

Sully, named after Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger of “Miracle on the Hudson” fame, joined the former president in July. Sully was raised by VetDogs, first through its prison puppy program that gives inmates a chance to teach animals the basic tasks of housebreaking and standardized commands, and then at the program’s campus in Smithtown, N.Y.

One article, commenting on Sully’s loyalty and dedication, pointed out that of all the animals in the world, it was dogs who first came forward to join man by his fire.