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Meet K9 Strike!! Strike is a 14 year old Belgian Malinois. He was an explosive detection canine in the United States Coast Guard for 8 years. During this time he conducted many operations all over the country and Puerto Rico.
Strike was utilized at two Republican National Conventions, 4 Super Bowls, 10 different Marathons, conducted sweeps
Meet K9 Strike!! Strike is a 14 year old Belgian Malinois. He was an explosive detection canine in the United States Coast Guard for 8 years. During this time he conducted many operations all over the country and Puerto Rico.
Strike was utilized at two Republican National Conventions, 4 Super Bowls, 10 different Marathons, conducted sweeps for U.S. Presidents, many other dignitaries and VIP’s and was even on the cover of a book!
Strike currently lives with his family in Groton. They reached out to us as Strikes overall health and abilities continued to decline. Although he doesn’t need much, we wanted to make sure we provided him with whatever would keep him comfortable while he lived out his retirement.
K9 Rocko graduated 170th patrol class and started his DOC career in 2014. K9 Rocko responded to many disturbance’s throughout the state’s correctional facilities. Most notably in 2016, K9 Rocko responded to a disturbance involving an inmate with a weapon and was able to get the inmate to comply with orders and release the weapon while sta
K9 Rocko graduated 170th patrol class and started his DOC career in 2014. K9 Rocko responded to many disturbance’s throughout the state’s correctional facilities. Most notably in 2016, K9 Rocko responded to a disturbance involving an inmate with a weapon and was able to get the inmate to comply with orders and release the weapon while staff secured the situation. In 2017, K9 Rocko assisted Enfield PD during a traffic stop. He alerted on the passenger door, drug paraphernalia was located inside the vehicle and 15 bags of crack coccaine was located on the individuals.
In 2017, K9 Rocko competed in the K9 Olympics and won top team for tactical obedience.
Unfortunately in 2018, while responding to a disturbance at one of the correctional facilities, Rocko’s handler was injured. This resulted in the handler needing multiple surgeries and being out of work for an extended period of time. K9 Rocko, as a result was retired long before he was ready to be.
His life now looks different. He is an 11 1/2 year old dog that’s still learning how to be a family dog as opposed to what he loved to be, a working dog. K9 Rocko developed pannus in 2020 that resulted in him becoming blind. He has learned to adjust and while he sometimes forgets where things are and bumps into them, he has adapted to his new way of life.
On October 2, 2016, USMC Lance Corporal Jake Pettit, a Fairfield native and Combat Veteran, tragically passed away after struggling with PTS. K9 Jake is named in Lance Corporal Jake Pettit’s honor and is dedicated to both serving the Fairfield community and bringing awareness to Post Traumatic Stress (PTS).
One year following Jake’s death
On October 2, 2016, USMC Lance Corporal Jake Pettit, a Fairfield native and Combat Veteran, tragically passed away after struggling with PTS. K9 Jake is named in Lance Corporal Jake Pettit’s honor and is dedicated to both serving the Fairfield community and bringing awareness to Post Traumatic Stress (PTS).
One year following Jake’s death, almost to the day, The Hometown Foundation and Miller Motorcars graciously donated the funds necessary to obtain K9 Jake and so it began…the dawning of the K9 Jake PTS Awareness Project.
Since being partnered with K9 Jake in October of 2017, Sergeant Irizarry and K9 Jake have spent every day together, whether it be at home, work or training. In February of 2018, K9 Jake became certified in Narcotics detection and has since been instrumental in a number of narcotics searches and arrests.
K9 Jake’s mission is not only to protect and serve the residents and visitors of Fairfield as a dual purpose Narcotics and Tracking K9 but to also honor Lance Corporal Jake Pettit by helping bring awareness to the struggles of PTS. In order to complete this mission, Sergeant Irizarry and K9 Jake have already begun making public appearances, visiting veteran and non-veteran groups and generally spreading the PTS Awareness Message. They look forward to continuing this important mission by visiting VA Hospitals, VFW meetings and anywhere they are needed along the way.
In 2020, due to changes in department structure and leadership, Sergeant Irizarry stepped down as K9 Jake’s handler but declined to retire K9 Jake to ensure he continued his mission. K9 Jake was then partnered with Officer Daniel Chase, a veteran himself, in August 2020. K9 Jake and Officer Chase served the Town of Fairfield until K9 Jake’s retirement in 2021.
According to a Department of Veterans Affairs study, it is estimated that approximately 22 Veterans take their own lives each day. This is why K9 Jake’s mission is so vitally important. To serve as a constant reminder of this tragic number, K9 Jake was assigned Badge #22 and his police vehicle was designated as Car #22.
K9 Gunny was Born on 3/8/2014 in Slovakia, he started as a Duel Purpose K9 at New Haven Police Dept in March of 2017 and was partnered with Officer Sullivan for the entirety of his career. He is trained in narcotics detection and patrol work which includes obedience, building searches, evidence recovery, tracking and criminal apprehensio
K9 Gunny was Born on 3/8/2014 in Slovakia, he started as a Duel Purpose K9 at New Haven Police Dept in March of 2017 and was partnered with Officer Sullivan for the entirety of his career. He is trained in narcotics detection and patrol work which includes obedience, building searches, evidence recovery, tracking and criminal apprehension. Some of his noteable jobs: Finding 3 kilos of fentanyl in a passengers luggage at Tweed Airport in New Haven. At a missing person incident, the victims cell phone was found in the road next to some woods in Woodbridge (a town that borders New Haven). Gunny sniffed the phone and tracked into the woods where he located the victims wallet. He then continued tracking further into the woods and eventually located the victim who had been shot several times. He has located numerous guns and knives that were used in crimes. He has also found countless illegal drugs during motor vehicle stops. K9 Gunny has 3 apprehension subjects who were in the act of committing felonies. His handler said "His presence alone has prevented people from fleeing from or fighting the police”
It is with the upmost sadness that we share the passing of Harlows Heroes, K9 Gunny- Retired New Haven PD after battling aggressive cancer. His best friend, partner and handler, Retired New Haven Officer Sean Sullivan, was there to comfort him while he crossed over to his next adventure.
“K9 Gunny was known for his loyalty, pure strength, confidence and excellent nose. Anyone who knew K9 Gunny or any decoy who ever got to work with K9 Gunny knew how extremely powerful he was” -NHPD K9 Unit
We are devastated over the loss of K9 Gunny and for his partner Sean Sullivan and department. We ask you to keep them all in your thoughts. K9 Gunny is the exact reason we started Harlows Heroes and we are honored to of been able to be the tiniest sliver of his story. To our donors, thank you. We wouldn’t be Harlows Heroes without you. Rest Easy K9 Gunny. Good Boy. 🖤💙
EOW: 7/19/2024
We are accepting applications for our next Hero. If you need help or want resources for the future, reach out today!
We are a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the needs The K9's that serve or have served your community. From providing medical care, nutritional support, toys for mental stimulation while also being passionate about educating to public about our K9's different utilizations and creating positivity for the law enforcement community programs and support services. We are committed to making a positive impact on the lives of the K9's teams that make a difference in our community. By supporting Harlows Heroes, you are supporting your K9 community and helping to support the teams that have dedicated their lives to ensure we live a safer one.
As a sponsor of Harlows Heroes, you will have the opportunity to make a significant impact on the lives of those we serve. Your support will help us to expand our programs and services, reach more K9's in need, and make a lasting difference in the community. Contact us today to learn more about becoming a sponsor.
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