It's Friday, so we all need a story that reminds us that the world can be a kind, happy place sometimes.

Remember retiring Marietta, Ohio police officer Matthew Hickey and his K9 partner, Ajax? Hickey wanted to keep Ajax, but the city of Marietta said he couldn't because the dog was city property and he'd have to try to buy Ajax at an auction. The Internet responded with tens of thousands of dollars for Hickey.

It was all really charming, and now we have our happy ending: Hickey was able to purchase Ajax for $1 and it didn't even go to an auction.

In the end, Paul Bertam, law director for the City of Marietta, decided to apparently take a bureaucratic reading of the law for the power of good, for once, and used the law to allow Hickey to purchase Ajax from the city directly.

NBC 4 in Columbus explains:

He said that under Ohio Revised Code Section 9.62, if a canine unit is disbanded, the canine may be purchased for $1 by the law enforcement officer who was assigned to it. Bertam wrote that there is no technical definition of “canine unit” in the Revised Code. However, in the Ohio Administrative Code, a “canine unit” is described as “a canine handler who shall be a sworn law enforcement officer and a canine.” Bertam said that there is no cross-reference between the two codes and recommended that, since Hickey and Ajax have technically been disbanded as a canine unit, Hickey should be able to purchase the dog for $1.

You can read Bertam's full analysis below.

For immediate release - Officer Hickey and Ajax February 4, 2016 Honorable Joe Matthews, Mayor of the City of... Posted by Marietta Ohio on Thursday, February 4, 2016

Hickey expressed his thanks, saying, "I’m speechless and I’m so very grateful. There’s no way I can thank everybody. I’m so thankful and relieved. There are really good people out here. They’re kind, they’re considerate and they want to make things right. God bless them.”

As for that GoFundMe account that raised over $70,000 dollars? Hickey confirmed to NBC 4 what the fundraiser had previously said: all the money will be given to an organization — Vested Interest — to purchase protective vests for K9 officers.

And, in something of a nice bow to the story, one state representative has already introduced legislation that he hopes will ensure that what Hickey went through won't happen again. State Representative Andy Thompson says his bill would allow retiring officers to purchase their K9 partners for $1, telling WTAP, "We do really want to address this issue, no doubt about it. These animals are unique and they have a special bond with the officers that they work with, so we want to make sure we have a common sense approach that makes it easier for villages, cities and political subdivisions to resolve this issue."