K9 Keegan – Orange County, New York

Died – 5/10/16
Handler – Deputy Sheriff Jeremy Yela

Beloved Orange County Sheriff’s Department dog dies

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department lost a devoted member of its unit this week. Keegan was a retired K-9 who served the department for almost a decade. He retired last year and went to live with his handler, Deputy Sheriff Jeremy Yela. Yela says he had to put the dog down Tuesday because of a degenerative disease. Yela says Keegan was an invaluable patrol dog, and putting him down was one of the toughest things he had to do. “There’s nothing like the bond of a police dog. They are with me 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I’ve had this dog, actually, before I met my wife, so he’s been a part of my life for a better part of a decade, so it was tough. It still is tough,” he says. Yela has since gotten a new K-9 named Justice to help sniff out criminals and narcotics.

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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.
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