When hundreds of vets take to the road Sunday in Highland during the 26th Annual Victory for Veterans Ride, one avid rider won’t be among them.
Mutt, the Cane Corso who served as Jarrett Hunt’s faithful service dog that accompanied him on several vet rides, was helped over the rainbow bridge last month after a long illness. He was 10 ½-years-old.
Mutt gained a modicum of popularity in 2017, when he and Hunt, of Hammond, hung out at the ride while Hunt’s fiancée, Jen Brown, and their other friends completed the loop around Lake County. Hunt wanted to get a sidecar for the majestic beast, but he couldn’t at the time because he was just getting back on his feet, he told the Post-Tribune.
A Lowell man, David “Fish” Campbell, saw the Post-Tribune article and wanted to help. He ran into the couple at another function a few months after the article and vowed that Mutt would have his sidecar “one way or the other,” the Post-Tribune reported.
After hosting a bike run to get the sidecar stateside from India in 2018, Campbell and others customized it to fit the 100-plus-pound Mutt. They then dedicated the finished product to Hunt and Mutt at a 2019 celebration, the Post-Tribune reported.
“I don’t get very surprised at much, and I’m not big on (being the center of attention), but this is better than I could’ve hoped for and more than I ever deserved,” Hunt said at the time.
During Mutt’s final celebration at Mission BBQ in Merrillville August 25, an emotional Brown recalled how Mutt came into their lives. When Hunt’s post-traumatic stress disorder qualified him for a service dog, he had his heart set on another pup in Mutt’s litter, she said.
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Cash, the other pup, was spoken for, so they ended up with Mutt, who Hunt named after his Army buddy to whom Hunt was the “Jeff” to his “Mutt” like the old cartoon. No one was sure whether Mutt and Hunt would ever form the bond they would need to work together as a team, Brown said, but Mutt never gave up on his new charge.
“Then there was the time we went to the Lake County Fair, and the bus driver wouldn’t let Jarrett on the bus because of Mutt’s size and breed, and that caused a bunch of chaos,” Brown said. “But through that, we met Lisa (Medellin) and so many more people who are all here to say ‘Goodbye.’ We can’t thank you enough for what you mean to us and Mutt.”
Hunt, for his part, struggled through tears to articulate what Mutt meant to him but said he was the “bestest boy ever.”
“I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for him,” Hunt said.
The North Township Victory for Veterans Ride will commence police-escorted processional style at around 11:30 a.m. Sunday from the southwest gate of Wicker Memorial Park, where it’ll follow the following route: Turning west on Ridge Road to Calumet Avenue, then left on Calumet Avenue to Route 30 in Dyer. Bikers will then turn left onto Route 30 and head to Taft/Cleveland in Merrillville before heading north to Ridge Road.
They’ll then head west on Ridge Road back to Wicker Park’s main gate, where food and drinks will be available, according to the event’s website, https://www.victoryforveteranswickerpark.org/.
Cost for tickets is $26.05 for single riders and $41.50 for couples, and can be purchased online at https://www.victoryforveteranswickerpark.org/product-category/ride-tickets/.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.