K9 Johnny – Garden City, Kansas

Died – 9/24/24
Handler – Officer Chris Seeman

Garden City Police mourn loss of K9 Johnny

The Garden City Police Department is mourning the loss of one of its K9s.The department says K9 Johnny, who retired in 2021, died Tuesday after a recent health issue. Police say that, over his seven-year career, he was deployed over 700 times, apprehending 39 suspects, conducting 384 narcotics sniffs, 273 patrol deployments, and 58 community demonstrations and presentations.K9 Johnny finished his career and enjoyed his retirement with Officer Chris Seeman and family while helping create countless good memories. Officer Seeman stated that you could “count on him to get the job done while also being a goofball around his fellow Officers and citizens of the community.”K9 Johnny was the bestest dog, and he will be missed.”Services for Johnny have not been announced.

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.