Idaho State Allowed A Deceased Student’s Service Dog To Walk In His Place At Graduation

That handsome pooch in the banner image is a seizure alert service dog named Cletus, and he previously served an Idaho State University student named Joshua Kelly, who suffered from epilepsy. Sadly, Joshua passed away in February due to complications from his condition, but his father Terry attended the ISU graduation ceremony on Saturday to make sure that his son’s efforts and work as a student were still recognized. Naturally, because Cletus had been such a huge part of Joshua’s life, Terry made sure to lead the pit bull across stage as university presented Joshua’s Bachelor of Science in Geology posthumously.

More than 2,000 graduating students were on hand to cheer on Cletus in this bittersweet moment, as Terry told KIFI’s Local News 8 how this dog was as close to the rest of the family as he was to Joshua. Despite being initially worried about the idea of a pit bull as a service dog, Terry described how Cletus just loves being climbed on and played with by his grandchildren, and that’s only the tip of this dusty iceberg.

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