One of the Carriage Safety Management“Bomb sniffing” dogs of Reagan National Airport was given a retirement party last week after working his final shift and leaving the force after many years of public service. Golden retriever named Messi worked hard for nearly a decade, and now that he’s retired, he’ll finally get to spend the rest of his life doing whatever he wants. DogLike humans, they don’t dream of working.
At the end of his final shift at the airport, Messi was led into the stairwell where a training bag had been left to give him his final warning as a law officer. There, colleagues threw a surprise party for Messi, throwing dozens of tennis balls, starting a bubble machine and feeding him a pupcake (pictured above). For a split second, Messi looked surprised and startled, but when he realized the surprise was tennis balls, he went crazy and chased after a few.
Messi’s handler, a TSA agent named Peter, removed the official “Do Not Pet” patch from his belt, and dozens of people gave Messi pats and scratches that he extremely deserving. Peter agreed to adopt Messi and take him home and care for him in retirement. Meanwhile, Peter will transition from TSA dog handler to TSA dog handler, helping train dogs to take Messi’s place on the force. I hope Officer Messi’s pension will help him afford wet food and a nice bed for his doghouse.
They’re both good dogs, Brant.
According to TSA:
Each dog and its handler serves as a trusted resource for explosive detection as well as providing a tangible deterrent to terrorist activity targeting different types of intersections.
So, you know, Security cinema. At least it’s lovely security theater.
