K9 Joker – Bradley, Tennessee

Handler – Deputy Eduardo Choate

Much-loved BCSO K-9 Joker dies

Former K-9 Officer Joker has died.Joker was a German Shepard and Bradley County K9 Deputy seriously wounded in the line of duty with his handler, Deputy Eduardo Choate.Joker and Chaote were searching for a group of six juveniles, automobile theft suspects, near Toyota of Cleveland, in September of 2021.Several surgeries and recoveries later, Joker was released from veterinary care to Chaote.In 2022, the Tennessee Legislature passed “Joker’s Law,” a bill designed to increase the penalties for people convicted of harming a police K-9.The law increased the charge for the crime from a Class E felony to a Class B felony. That would increase a possible sentence from 1-6 years to 8-30 years.In 2023, Joker was retired officially from service, after logging more than 650 total deployments during his seven-year career.Over 100 of these were successful tracks where the suspects were found and arrested without harm, and an additional 30 physical suspect apprehensions where he chased and held down the suspects until the arrest could be made.The Veterinary Care and Specialty Group in Chattanooga was able to remove a mass, a lymph node, and resection half of K-9 Joker’s intestines.A Facebook post from Jason Johnson, founder of Project K-9 Hero, said veterinarians found an internal perforation during surgery, and this operation should make him feel better.”He will need a strict diet with increased vitamins and nutrients,” Johnson said in the post. “It will take a few days to get the pathology back of what the mass is exactly.”Project K-9 Hero paid over $10,000 this past week to cover the medical bills of Joker, who took a bullet for his handler in the line of duty in 2021.Retired K-9 from Bradley County, Joker, was continuing to experience complications following surgery.Joker went to the vet for a check-up on Dec. 4th because his breathing was irregular. His handler learned that something may have entered his lungs during surgery, which could have taken a while to develop a respiratory issue.Joker retired in June 2023. He was shot while chasing car theft suspects in 2021, and has been through several surgeries and complications since then.

Tags

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.
| Old Memorials | Site Map
Copyright © 1973 - 2025 Louise Krause Memorials to Fallen K-9's Hosted By PC-GEEK Site Maintained BY Jim Cortina