BRIGHTON — A war dog memorial in South Lyon has given 73 military animals a formal, honorable sendoff.

A dozen of those memorials were funded by a single Brighton business that identifies with the message.

Linda and Craig Suter, owners of Big Frog Custom T-Shirts in Brighton, has partnered with the Michigan War Dog Memorial for some time now. In total, the business has donated nearly $10,000 through its online store.

The Michigan War Dog Memorial is located in South Lyon. Big Frog is located at 9690 Village Place Boulevard in Brighton.

Linda and Craig learned about the memorial when a volunteer offered them a tour.

The couple owned dogs, but they’ve recently passed away. Craig said he and Linda loved their dogs, but added handlers who lose their dogs also lose their partner.

“(The memorial) provides a respectful place to honor not only the dog but the handlers who’ve lost their best friends — to show them the community really appreciated all they did and share in their grief of the passing of these service animals,” Craig said.

Six years ago, after learning the memorial had been vandalized, the Suters helped the organization acquire security cameras and lights. This led to a partnership with Phil and Barb Weitlauf, who founded the memorial.

“(It’s) a local community bootstrap project — it’s an American gem right now, as far as I’m concerned,” Craig said. “They’ve done such a great job with it.”

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Handlers can bring their military working dogs to the memorial for an official ceremony. The organization offers a seven-dog “howling team” that howls for 21 seconds to provide a send-off.

“There’s never a dry eye in the house,” Linda said. “It’s one of the most emotional ceremonies I’ve ever been to.”

The Michigan War Dog Memorial conducts ceremonies nearly every weekend throughout the summer. It also created a Path of Honor and a memorial wall reminiscent of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

“What they’re doing there has been a great thing for all service animals,” Linda said.

Learn more at mwdm.org.

— Contact reporter Evan Sasiela at esasiela@livingstondaily.com. Follow him on Twitter @SalsaEvan.

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: War Dog Memorial in South Lyon gives pups a formal sendoff