K-9 Officer Hunter, his partner Michael D’Aresta, and their colleagues served for the Middletown Police Department in Connecticut for 11 years before being diagnosed with terminal cancer.
On his last day on Earth, they wanted to be sure how much he was loved.
Hunter put his life on the line every day on the job to keep the town safe. His dedicated commitment to the force came to a painful conclusion lately as his health deteriorated:
“K-9 Hunter has been unwell for several days, and testing revealed that he has a kind of liver cancer that is dangerous. “Unfortunately, they said that he will not live long life,” Middletown K-9 leader Sgt. Doug Clark posted on his page.
D’Aresta was not alone in his grief after having to make the difficult choice to put his companion to sleep as a result of the diagnosis. When the tragic day arrived, D’Aresta was surrounded by his fellow officers outside the veterinary clinic, holding Hunter in his arms as he took one last farewell from those who had served so proudly beside him.
Middletown has a population of approximately 50,000 people, but his name has spread throughout the country and around the world as a result of the moving manner the police department bid farewell to K-9 Hunter — and it’s a legacy that won’t be forgotten.
