K9 Wish – Cloquet, Minnesota

Died 5/9/22
Handler – Jason Maki

9 years, 150 fires; Cloquet Fire District’s K9 dies unexpectedly

An unexpected death for the Cloquet Area Fire family has the community looking back at the hard work this special K9 has accomplished. In a Facebook post Wednesday, the Cloquet Area Fire District wrote, “It is with great sadness that we share the Cloquet Area Fire District had to send our Arson K-9, Wish, over the rainbow bridge on Monday, May 9, 2022 unexpectedly.” Wish worked for nine years and worked more than 150 fire scenes in Minnesota and Wisconsin with her handler Jason Maki, a fire and arson investigator. Wish was involved in fire prevention at schools and life safety discussions with kids. On her days off, she was a loyal dog to the Maki family. Wish was surrounded by the Maki family, her CAFD family, Cloquet PD, Fond Du Lac PD, and the Carlton County Sheriff’s Office for her final send off. The community thanks K9 Wish for the dedicated years of service.

Submitted By Jim Cortina

James A. Cortina has been involved with police dogs since 1972 and currently on the Board of Directors for the Connecticut Police Work Dog Association Inc. Jim has been appointed as Treasurer since its inception in 1991. Jim is one of the charter members of the C.P.W.D.A. organization. Since 1975 he has been a certified professional dog trainer and received his Master Trainer Certification in 1985. During his career he has provided armed K-9 strike crowd control for security agencies in Connecticut and out of state security companies. In conjunction with other members of the Connecticut Police Work Dog Association Inc. Board of Directors, he helped to draft Connecticut Statute 53-247(e) "Intentional Injury or Killing of Police K-9" which was passed by the Senate in 1993 and also assisted in implementing the prestigious Daniel Wasson Memorial K-9 Award in 1992. In 1993 he helped coordinate the North American Police Work Dog Association Nationals in New London, Connecticut. He was appointed Training Director for the New London County Work Dog Association from 1985-1987. He performed decoy work for Connecticut Police Work Dog Association Inc. in police K-9 demonstrations, trained several local police department canines, and coordinated training workshops for out-of-state police departments. He participated in the United States Police K-9 Association Trials in Croton on Hudson, New York in 1985 as a decoy. He is an avid photographer and received photography awards in 1989, 1990, and 1991 and currently takes photographs for the Connecticut Police Work Dog Association Inc.