Wisconsin’s 11th annual K9 Veterans Day celebration will be held Sunday, March 9, from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. at the American Legion Banquet Center, 201 S. Water Street, E., Fort Atkinson. The public is cordially invited to attend this event.
The keynote speaker will be Jim Pacetti, who dedicated 30 years of service to the Cook County Sheriff’s Police Department, spending the final 25 years as a K9 handler and trainer providing training and guidance to hundreds of canine handlers in Cook County and across the country. (For more information about our keynote speaker, visit our K9 Veterans Day page.)
The K9 Veterans Day program will also include recognition of The Operational K9 Medical Team of Wisconsin which was founded in 2020 to provide education and support to law enforcement officers and other first responders assisting operational K9s wounded in the line of duty.
Fallen K9s will be honored and attending veteran and current canine handlers, along with their partners, will be recognized.
At 12:30 p.m., there will be a brief wreath-laying ceremony in McCoy Park at the site of the K9 Veterans Memorial to honor K9 Seato and his handler Marine Lance Corporal Terry Beck who were killed in action in December 1967. The wreath will be placed by retired U.S. Army Sergeant Michael Fletcher, who was recently reunited with his K9 partner, Dasty.
Immediately after the wreath-laying, participants will move to the ceremony at the American Legion.
The annual K9 Veterans Day ceremony is sponsored by The Kennel Club of Fort Atkinson, following the successful 2015 campaign for passage of the K9 Veterans Day proclamation by the Wisconsin Legislature. This proclamation created a day to remember and honor military working dogs, police dogs, customs dogs, search and rescue dogs, border patrol dogs, arson dogs and secret service dogs that protect and serve our nation.
The Kennel Club of Fort Atkinson, Inc. is a non-profit organization of volunteers offering training classes, education, and community service.
Wisconsin’s 11th annual K9 Veterans Day celebration will be held Sunday, March 9, from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. at the American Legion Banquet Center, 201 S. Water Street, E., Fort Atkinson. The public is cordially invited to attend this event.