6 min read Retired Military Dog With PTSD Shot And Killed Back Home

<p><a href="https://www.gofundme.com/ew6cjw7k" target="_blank">GoFundMe/Jess Campbell</a></p>

Mike, a Belgian Malinois and veteran military K9 who completed two tours in Iraq, was shot and killed earlier this month outside his home in the United States. "I just lost my family member," Sergeant First Class Matthew Bessler told the Billings Gazette. Bessler adopted Mike after the two served together in Iraq, and when both experienced post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Bessler trained Mike to be his service dog.

"I raised him and trained him as a puppy, and the ability he has to sense some of the issues that I have with seizures, with my PTSD, my TBI [traumatic brain injury] and severe anxiety disorders," Bessler told the Billings Gazette. "He can ... help me calm down or relax me." That all changed on October 10 when Bessler was out of town on a hunting trip. When he returned late that night, his roommate broke the news to him that the unthinkable had occurred: At 9 years of age, Mike was shot and killed by a bicyclist less than 10 feet away.