2020 Milestone: First Dog Onsite
MWD Rosso poses with his new kennel home after he comes to Project K-9 Hero.
In 2020, MWD Rosso faced euthanasia because he had nowhere to go.
“With Rosso’s temperament and his training capabilities, he was looking at euthanasia if he was not going to be picked up by Project K-9 Hero,” said his former and final Handler, Ian.
Rosso became the very first K-9 to arrive at our Whitwell facility, inspiring the construction of our first kennels and laying the foundation for our campus.
Ian traveled to the facility to visit Rosso after two years of separation. He reflected, “He was my first dog. He taught me more than I taught him…Just to see him alive and doing well out here means a lot.”
After years of service and retirement, Rosso passed away in our care on November 11th, 2023. His life reminds us why our mission matters: to protect those who protected us.
Rosso will forever hold a special place as the first Hero to call our campus home.
"I would like to thank Jason and everyone else out here at Project K-9 Hero. Their motto is protecting those who protected us, and that was exactly what Rosso did when he served: protecting everyone else around him. It was finally time for him to come out here and be protected himself.” - Ian, Rosso’s Former Handler