K9 Repo – Citrus, Florida

Handler – Deputy William Gulledge

Retired K-9 dies after serving 7 years

The Citrus County Sheriff’s Office is mourning the loss of one of its beloved retired K-9s. In a post on social media, the agency announced that K-9 Repo passed away. K-9 Repo was with the sheriff’s office for seven years as a patrol and narcotics K-9. Before his retirement in 2019, he and his K-9 partner made 5,280 traffic stops, seized approximately 908 grams of methamphetamine, and completed 192 tracks. CCSO expressed its gratitude to K-9 Repo online, stating, “Thank you, K9 Repo, for your dedication and loyalty to serving the citizens of Citrus County, and thank you for protecting your handler for nearly 14 years.”The agency asked the community to keep K-9 Repo’s former handler and the CCSO in their thoughts and prayers.

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.