NYP:  By Kathianne Boniello  September 8, 2018

Timothy Tallini with Valiant, the labrador (left) and the family dog.

He was a loyal partner who loved apples and a comfortable bed after a long day at work — but he won’t be spending retirement with the family that loved him.

That’s because Valiant the beloved bomb-sniffing dog was cruelly removed from his longtime handler — and the man’s developmentally disabled son — after a workplace dispute, the handler claims.

Joseph Tallini says MSA Security fired him under false pretenses and then took the 8-year-old yellow Lab, leaving his family “devastated.”

“It was horrible,” Tallini told The Post.

Tallini, who is part of an ongoing Manhattan Federal Court lawsuit against MSA, says he twice warned his supervisors earlier this year that Valiant was “drastically” slowing down and could no longer handle grueling 12-hour shifts at the New York Stock Exchange.

His cautions “went in one ear and out the other,” Tallini charges, until someone complained about the way Valiant conducted a search.

That’s when MSA officials “told me, ‘You put the public at risk,’ ” according to Tallini.

The company fired him on July 31 and threatened a lawsuit if he didn’t return the pooch.

“I had to give the dog back because I couldn’t afford to spend $60,000 on a lawyer to fight them,” he said.

Handlers are expected to bring their dogs home each day, to further their bond with the animals.

Tallini’s son, Timothy, who battles multiple developmental issues, wept at the loss of Valiant, his parents said.

“It’s terrible,” said Tallini’s wife, Pat. “He’s upset, he’s crying. You can’t separate the heart from the head.”

Valiant “deserves to be treated like a house pet,” she added.

MSA did not return a message for comment.
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