Combat wounded Marine gets new leash for life

At ease, Marine: Blinded K-9 finds forever family in Spanish Springs
Shreveport Times
Aug. 3, 2013

A Marine veteran who went blind while in service to his country has found a home in Spanish Springs.

Since the nine-hour drive from Camp Pendleton in Southern California the last week in June, he has been getting accustomed to his new digs, meeting the family, taking naps, chewing on tennis balls and begging for belly rubs.

It’s OK.

His name is Asur, and he’s a dog.

Bunnie and Ross Laflin sit with Asur, a former Marine explosives dog, in the yard at their Spanish Springs home. Asur was left blind because of acute glaucoma. The Laflins adopted him through their daughter's nonprofit, Hounds and Heroes.
Guy Clifton/RGJ

The 4-year-old German shepherd, a bomb-detection specialist during his time in the Marines, has been adopted by Ross and Bunnie Laflin, whose ranch home overlooking the Spanish Springs Valley includes seven other dogs, two cats, four goats and three chickens — all rescued.

“He’s part of the family,” said Ross Laflin, a retired San Francisco police officer. “He and Rookie (one of the rescued dogs) sleep on the bed with me. He’s going to be a good dog.”
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