“It will never be the same.”
Before being diagnosed with cancer, K-9 Officer Hunter served 10 years with his partner Michael D’Aresta and their colleagues for Connecticut’s Middletown Police Department.
And on his final day on Earth, they wanted him to know just how much they love him.
During his tenure on the force, Hunter put his life on the line each day to keep the community safe. His selfless contributions to the force came to a heartbreaking end recently after his health took a sudden turn for the worse:
“K-9 Hunter has been ill for the past several days and when tests were conducted they revealed that K9 Hunter has a very aggressive form of liver cancer. They unfortunately recommended that he be euthanized,” Middletown K-9 supervisor Sgt. Doug Clark wrote online.
The diagnosis was especially hard on D’Aresta, who had to make the difficult decision to put his friend to sleep, but he was not alone in his grief. Flanked by their fellow officers outside the veterinary office when that sad day came, D’Aresta carried Hunter in his arms as he received one last salute from those whom he served so loyally alongside.
“Officer D’Aresta and Hunter have been an exceptional team serving the City of Middletown in a high caliber since 2007,” Clark wrote. “So as you can imagine, this is extremely difficult for Mike and his family.”
Middletown is home to a population of just around 50,000, but thanks to the touching way the police department bid farewell to K-9 Hunter, his legacy is known now by countless more people across the country and globe — and that’s a legacy that won’t soon be forgotten.
My thoughts on this. Although it will be one of the toughest moments of that officer,, what a beautiful🥰🥰 way of saying goodbye to a companión and friend.. I wish us humans could do the same when loved ones are terminally ill.
That way we can say goodbye when they are alive and not after they die.
We’ll said.