Montville ― Three residents shed tears as they presented a painting of K9 Barrett to his partner at Monday night’s Town Council meeting.

“That was the hardest part, losing Barrett and then the next day you’re like, ‘I don’t know what to do,’ ” K9 officer Daniel Witts said after receiving the painting.

“He was the first thing I did in the morning, the last thing I did at night, like consumed my whole life. And then it’s gone and you’re like, ‘Chief, I need a new dog,’ ” Witts said.

Barrett was euthanized on June 1, 2023, after suffering from brain bleeds and seizures that police said were connected to a Dec. 11, 2021, assault by Presley Almanzar-Dejesus.

In the wake of Barrett’s death, friends Krista Smith, Elizabeth Quidgeon and Diane Dolan came together with a common goal.

“We wanted to give Officer Witts and his family something special,” Quidgeon said Monday.

“I carried this anger and I said I have to do something positive,“ Quidgeon said. ”So I contacted Diane, and I said, ‘Hey, do you remember the gentleman that did some artwork for you by the name of David? Could you get in touch with him for me?’“

Pittsburgh-based artist David Holzemer is the owner of the Wet Nose Creative, a business that turns photos of dogs into mixed media paintings. Dolan had previously hired Holzemer to do portraits of her own dogs.

Quidgeon reached out to Holzemer and Diane recommended they use a photo of Barrett taken by Krista Smith. The painting also includes a Medal of Bravery awarded to Barrett for his apprehension of Presley Almanzar-Dejesus, who allegedly pointed a gun at Witts while fleeing the scene of a car crash. Police said he was also in possession of stolen guns.

Back in March 2023, Smith founded Harlows Heroes, a Connecticut-based charity that provides support to retired K9 units.

“When we work for a company for all our lives we get a 401K, we get retirement, a pension. These dogs, they don’t even get medical. They have to cover it. So I had a dream,” Smith said. “When Barrett retired, we wanted to raise enough money so that we could give him essentially a pension, so that Dan would be able to get medical coverage for him, for food or whatever he might need in his retirement.”

Unfortunately, Barrett never got to retire. Shortly after Harlows Heroes was established, Barrett was diagnosed with his brain bleed, Smith said.

He worked beside Witts until his death, Smith added.

“So we kind of changed up what we were doing,” Smith said. “We still wanted to continue to support retired K9 units and we wanted to kind of make Barrett our legacy. He was never going to to be able to receive the support that he inspire us to give.”

Dolan read a statement from Holzemer before the audience at Monday’s meeting, which was attended by a large group of police officers.

“It was such an honor for me to do this portrait of this hero. I only hope that this portrait of Barrett does him justice and that someday, Officer Witts can look at this and remember all the great adventures they had together,” he wrote.

d.drainville@theday.com