After Corporal Steve Langan met Tag — the dog who would become his 11-year partner — in April 2008, the two became virtually inseparable. The K-9 officer and the then three-year-old Belgian Malinois lived, worked, and even vacationed together.

Tag ingratiated himself not only to Corporal Langan’s fellow officers and his family, but also to the community at large.

Which makes the list of mourners at the dog’s passing particularly long and the sadness especially deep.

“Everybody’s lost a pet, but he was my partner,” Corporal Langan explained. “He would’ve done anything for me. He would’ve given his life for me without any question.”

Tag may have had a gentle exterior (he loved belly rubs), but it was no hindrance to his police-dog instincts.

Corporal Langan recalls a roadway stop where a man’s attempt to resist arrest became physical. Corporal Langan clicked his key fob to open the car door, and within seconds, Tag was at his side, and the altercation was over.

“He saved me,” Corporal Langan said. “He helped me for sure.”

Although his tracking skills were sharp, Tag’s specialty was narcotics. His nose helped police find countless amounts of illegal drugs.

“I was very close with him. He was part of my family,” Corporal Steve Langan said of Tag. “He was a great partner and friend.”