Douglasville Police Department Sergeant Ashley Sanders and his K-9 partner, Deek, spent much of their eight and a half years together working on Interstate 20. That's why when Deek died, Sanders knew his partner would want that to be his permanent home.

During their time together on I-20, Sanders and Deek weren't just watching traffic go by as they sat in their Chevy Tahoe Police vehicle. During Deek's two years in the patrol unit and six and a half years in the FIND Unit, his nose was responsible for leading the Police Department to around $8.2 million in drug busts and seizures.

"That's at least a 1,000 pounds of dope," Sanders points out proudly. "He tracked and apprehended more than 20 wanted felons.

Deek was a tough cop but he was also a family dog, Sanders said.

"I never worried about him with my kids," he said. "He was a part of our family."

Deek was a German Sheppard, born in 2001, who came down with the rare condition of Canine Degenerative Myelopathy and eventually lost the ability to walk.

Deek was forced to retire from the Police Department and enjoyed about a year and a half at home with the Sanders family; Ashley, his wife Amanda and their two children Mollie, 8, and Maddie, 10.

The family finally had to make the decision to let Deek go about a month ago, and Butler & Son Pet Crematory, in Carrollton, performed the cremation.

In the attached video, Sanders and his family spread Deek's ashes on the I-20 median during a brief ceremony with dozens of Douglasville Police in attendance.

"He was a great dog," Sanders said. "I'll never find another one like him. He was an unbelievable dog."

In the attached photo gallery, Sanders shares some of his favorite pictures of Deek, both at work and with his family.