[Lafreniere Park's Rainbow Bridge]
[00:00:10]
IF YOU'VE EVER OWNED A PET, YOU KNOW THAT THEY BECOME MEMBERS OF YOUR FAMILY.
AND, YOU KNOW, AFTER THEY'RE GONE, THEIR PASSING CAN BE TRAUMATIC.
THIS BRIDGE WILL BE A PLACE WHERE YOU CAN GO AND SORT OF CELEBRATE THEIR LIVES, REMEMBER THEIR LIVES LONG AFTER THEY'RE GONE.
IT'S PERFECT THAT IT'S HERE BY THE DOG PARK BECAUSE YOU'LL BE ABLE TO HEAR OTHER PETS PLAYING WHILE YOU SIT HERE AND, AND IN REMEMBRANCE.
BUT TODAY, MORE THAN THE RAINBOW BRIDGE, WE'RE HERE TO REMEMBER A SPECIAL DEPUTY.
LIKE I SAID, WHEN YOU HAVE A PET, THEY ARE A MEMBER OF YOUR FAMILY.
AND THIS PARTICULAR PET IS A WORKING, WAS A WORKING MEMBER OF OUR JEFFERSON PARISH SHERIFF'S OFFICE.
HE WAS BELOVED MACHO, WAS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT DOG.
YOU KNOW, IT WAS OUR FIRST, WHAT WE CALL SWAT DOG.
MOST APPREHENSION DOGS ARE, ARE MEANT TO.
THERE'S THE BAD GUY RUN AND GO GET 'EM, YOU KNOW? WELL, THAT DOESN'T ALWAYS WORK WELL WHEN YOU'VE GOT 20 SWAT ME MEMBERS WALKING THROUGH A HOUSE BECAUSE WE'VE HAD DOGS THAT BIT THE SWAT TEAM MEMBERS ALSO.
SO WE, WE ENDED UP UTILIZING MACHO AS WHAT WE CALL A SWAT DOG.
WHAT, WHAT'S SPECIAL ABOUT MACHO IS HE ALSO HAD A SWITCH.
UH, YOU KNOW, HE HAD A SWITCH WHERE YOU COULD TURN OFF AND BE THE POLITEST DOG AND BE RUN RUBBING UP IN YOUR LAP AND EVERYTHING ELSE IN BETWEEN.
MACHO WAS, WAS A, A DOG THAT YOU COULD PUT AROUND YOUR KIDS ON AN EVERYDAY BASIS.
VERY, VERY WORKABLE DOG, UH, THAT DID A GREAT JOB AND, AND, AND OBVIOUSLY WENT OUT DOING WHAT HE LOVED TO DO.
THIS IS OUR FIRST LINE OF DUTY DEATH THAT WE, WE KNOW OF.
WHEN ARITA CALLED ME ABOUT THIS, IT WAS THE IMPECCABLE TIMING.
YOU KNOW, IT GIVES US THE OPPORTUNITY TO NOT, NOT ONLY DEDICATE THIS RAINBOW BRIDGE TO EVERYBODY'S FUR BABY, UH, BUT TO MAKE IT A BIG PART OF JEFFERSON PARISH AND OUR HISTORY.
UH, AND, AND CERTAINLY, UH, YOU KNOW, MACHOS HISTORY THAT, UH, WE WON'T FORGET.