American K9 hero dies, legacy lives on
(COLORADO SPRINGS) — We are Southern Colorado, and last month, we said goodbye to the most decorated K9 in our government's history, K9 Hurricane.
Although the American hero has died, his heroic acts aren't done yet. His legacy lives on through retired police and military dogs like K9 Broc.
'These dogs are heroes. High-performance athletes that were heroes,' said Southern Colorado Officer Brian Kelly, who worked with and takes care of Broc.
Officer Kelly and K9 Broc have found lots of criminals and narcotics in the Pikes Peak Region.
'He's in retirement now. So obviously, he takes advantage of the liberties that are afforded to him, where he can just… be a dog,' said Officer Kelly.
However, retirement for hardworking dogs like Broc often comes with an unfortunate reality.
'They do just a lot of things that are hard on their body. So after they retire, we incur all the costs,' said Officer Kelly.
Hurricane's retirement came shortly after being rushed to the ER, all because he put his life on the line to stop an intruder at the White House.
'He got picked up all the way (to) head level, six foot, slammed on the ground, punched, kicked. He got beat pretty bad, but he never, never gave up. I watched something with a heartbeat willing to die for me, and that that's the most special moment of my life,' said Marshall Mirarchi, Former Secret Service Special Operations K9 Handler.
Caring for Hurricane in retirement could've been very expensive for Mirarchi, but with the national attention, charities stepped in to cover his veterinary costs.
'I got this overwhelming feeling of guilt that, I can't have this special care and treatment and community for my dog, when all his brothers and sisters out there working don't have the same thing,' said Mirarchi.
That's when the non-profit Hurricane's Heroes was born. It provides medical coverage to retired law enforcement and military dogs since the government does not. Mirarchi is headed back to D.C. next week to advocate for a bill that would establish a grant program to help retired federal working dogs get the medical care they need.
'A lot of times when these dogs retire, they're beat up. They've been through a lot. They don't make it too long,' said Mirarchi. 'So we try to step in and make sure that the dogs get as many years as they can possibly get because those moments are so special.'
They've raised almost a million dollars since 2019. If you'd like to donate to Hurricane's Heroes, you can pick up his treats at Pet Pantry, and profits will go toward his nonprofit. You can also click here.
Since laying Hurricane to rest, the non-profit has a new sense of purpose to serve the heroes on their wait list.
'That was the last thing I said to him before he passed away, that, 'you know, you served your purpose, your job is completed… We're going to all carry on your legacy and your mission,'' said Mirarchi. 'If they could talk, they would be like, 'Take care of all the other dogs. Keep doing that.' So I know that's what he would want.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Comer launches probe into LA protests
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) is launching an investigation into California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) over their handling of demonstrations that broke out in the city this week over President Trump's immigration policies. 'Claims were made that state and local law enforcement had protests under control, however, police were clearly unable to quell the violence in Los Angeles prior to the arrival of the National Guardsmen,' Comer and Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.), who chairs the Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement, wrote in letters to the two California Democrats. 'You have championed California's sanctuary policies, which prevent local law enforcement's cooperation with federal immigration authorities,' the lawmakers wrote. 'You have also made it clear that you intend to block the objectives of the federal government, and defend aliens, regardless of their immigration status, criminal activity, anti-American views, or incitement to riot.' The two House Republicans requested that Newsom and Bass hand over all documents and communications related to the demonstrations among their two offices, state law enforcement, local law enforcement, and federal entities by June 27. The committee also requested 'all records and communications including video and dispatch logs, regarding the source of weapons (including rocks and cinderblocks) used by rioters.' The House investigation comes after Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who serves as chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, launched his own investigation into whether the Los Angeles protesters are funded by a local nonprofit. Hawley requested a history of internal communications and financial records from the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights to address allegations that it is fueling chaos in California. Newsom, Bass and Democrats have hit back at Republican criticism of the unrest in Los Angeles, arguing that Trump has provoked violence through his administration's use of deportations and deployment of the National Guard and Marines to the city. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
The Trump Administration Just Created Hundreds of Thousands of Illegal Immigrants
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has terminated the parole status of hundreds of thousands of migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. These people, who have been living and working in the country, must now self-deport or face immigration enforcement actions. An estimated 530,000 people came to the country through the CHNV parole program. (The initials stand for "Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela.") This pathway, implemented by President Joe Biden in January 2023, granted foreign nationals from those four countries U.S. work permits and deportation protection for two years while they sought other means of legal status. To qualify for CHNV parole, migrants had to have a sponsor based in the U.S. and pass security vetting. Republicans denounced the program as a misuse of parole authority, and in October 2024 the Biden administration decided against extending it. It's unclear how many people obtained alternative means of legal status to stay in the country after arriving under the program. On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing DHS to "terminate all categorical parole programs that are contrary to the policies of the United States established in my Executive Orders." Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem terminated the CHNV parole program on March 25, but legal challenges quickly blocked her move. In April, Judge Indira Talwani of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled that migrants on CHNV parole were entitled to a case-by-case review and implemented a preliminary injunction to pause Noem's order. That injunction was itself then paused by the Supreme Court, allowing deportation actions against people on CHNV parole to proceed while legal challenges continue to move forward. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson authored a dissent, joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, decrying the "devastating consequences of allowing the Government to precipitously upend the lives and livelihoods of nearly half a million noncitizens while their legal claims are pending." On Thursday, June 12, DHS—once again—began terminating the parole status of migrants benefiting from the parole program. Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at Homeland Security, declared in a press release that DHS was aiming to reverse the "disastrous" effects of allowing "poorly vetted illegal aliens into the United States" to "compete for American jobs and undercut American workers." Revoking a noncitizen's parole status may well be within Noem's legal authority, but the termination of this program will impact hundreds of thousands of migrants who came to the United States legally to make a better life for themselves. Many migrated due to urgent humanitarian reasons, seeking refuge from violence, from oppressive authoritarian socialist regimes, and from severe economic crises. And the program did—as intended—relieve pressure and disorder on the southern border. The post The Trump Administration Just Created Hundreds of Thousands of Illegal Immigrants appeared first on
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Trump is surprisingly right about one of the ways his ICE raids have gone wrong
President Donald Trump has for years dismissed critics of his mass deportation program as simply not understanding his policy genius. But in a rare apparent concession, the president posted to Truth Social on Thursday seeming to acknowledge how his immigration raids in particular have impacted American farmers. 'Our great farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace,' Trump wrote. 'That is not good…Changes are coming!' For once, he's right. Trump and his Republican supporters swept into office last year thanks to big promises to help America's forgotten small farmers. Instead, they've pillaged the land for cash and left struggling farmers with the bill. Farmers have warned their Republican lawmakers for months that mass deportations and tariff battles would cripple rural states' agricultural economies. Battered by trade wars, Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and a budget that slashes their take-home pay, America's farmers have been fighting for their livelihoods. It's a fight that could rattle the foundations of the GOP's electoral coalition just as voters begin thinking about next year's midterm elections. Trump's ever-expanding use of ICE deportation raids made new waves this past week after anti-ICE protests broke out in Los Angeles, and Republicans reflexively focused on disparaging a Democratic city in turmoil. In reality, Trump's ICE raids have played out in red states like Nebraska, too, albeit without the same heavy TV coverage. Farmers from California to Nebraska have shuttered operations in the wake of raids that carted off dozens of workers. In Florida, Trump voter Vincent Scardina choked back tears as he described a raid where ICE detained six of his longtime employees, all Nicaraguan men, The Daily Beast reported. Those men represent a third of Scardina's staff, and he has no idea how his business will replace them while staying afloat. After the president promised to focus his efforts on capturing 'dangerous criminals,' Trump's broad ICE raids feel like a betrayal to many farmers. The workers and families picked up in farm raids aren't bloodthirsty gang members Republicans talk so much about. In many cases they are longtime family friends and senior team members. In one January raid that resulted in the arrests of over 1,200 people, nearly half of them had no criminal record at all. Farmers have also had to internalize a deep sense of unfairness in Trump's policies. The factory farms and meatpacking companies that donate to Republicans by a two-to-one margin have so far been spared ICE raids despite being among the nation's biggest exploiters of illegal migrant labor. In an industry where two-thirds of workers are here illegally, federal enforcement seems to be falling almost exclusively on the smallest — and poorest — offenders. If the relationship between Republicans and their rural base was already strained over immigration, Trump's brutal federal spending cuts sent things into a deep freeze. In April, the U.S. Department of Agriculture slashed over $1 billion from a federal food-purchasing program that served as a lifeline for farmers in Iowa, North Dakota and across the plains. Anna Pesek, who owns Over the Moon Farm, told the North Dakota Monitor that Trump's cuts would shrink her business by about 10% and worsen her already tight profit margins. Follow the supply chain and you'll also find that rural food banks depend on that program to stock food for hungry families. Again, not everyone is suffering equally. Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill proposes even more cuts to USDA support programs that form the backbone of a small farmer's life and business. House Republicans have proposed the deepest cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in history, amounting to over $300 billion in reductions. For the farmers who supply SNAP with healthy produce, those cuts mean devastating income losses and even farm closures. The world looks a lot different if you run one of the megafarms owned by a multinational corporation like Cargill. Big agribusiness spent over $178 million on federal lobbying last year, and in return Trump's budget showers America's richest farmers with billions of dollars in subsidies. Taxpayer money that once supported rural schools, food banks, adult education centers and health clinics will instead help megafarms drive even more small farmers out of business. Despite asking the small farmers who voted for him to accept massive cuts in federal support, Trump's budget still expands USDA's budget by $56.6 billion. Almost all of that increase — $52.3 billion — comes in the form of expanded subsidies that are mostly claimed by industrial farms growing key staple crops. Indiana's 25,000 small farmers may be losing their local health clinics and workers, but at least the executives at Archer Daniels Midland can afford another round of bonuses. All of that unhappiness is causing serious problems for Republicans in areas that used to be political strongholds. Trump's approval recently fell to a low of 38%, driven in large part by erosion in the GOP's core support. Rural voters have consistently supported Trump at the ballot box, and he even improved his numbers with them last year, to a record 63%. Those days are over: An NPR/PBS/Marist poll conducted in April found that only 4 in 10 rural voters approve of Trump today. Republican lawmakers know how difficult it will be to hold critical swing districts if they stay this unpopular with core constituencies like heartland farmers. That puts the House Republicans who represent rural areas in a real bind, because they have no good answers for Trump's betrayal of family farmers. Back in February, seven of Wisconsin's GOP lawmakers simply didn't show up for a community forum hosted by the Wisconsin Farmers Union. Running from your voters isn't a winning strategy. Faced with the mounting political cost of his policy failures on rural Americans, Trump now promises that 'Changes are coming!' The millions of farmers who helped send him to the White House last year are done waiting. This article was originally published on
