K9 Zoe – Carolina Beach, South Carolina

Handler – Chief, Vic Ward

Carolina Beach Police Department mourning passing of K9

A K9 that made national news from the Carolina Beach Police Department (CBPD) has sadly passed away.K9 Dutch Shepherd Zoe was handled by CBPD’s police chief, Vic Ward.“She was my companion, my protector, and most importantly, a loved member of my family,” Chief Ward said.Zoe served in several missions, including finding missing people, article and evidence searches, crowd safety, backup on field arrests, providing protection during criminal manhunts, and clearing threats in building searches.Zoe was featured in Southern Living Magazine for her work herding cows that wandered off from a nativity scene and evaded capture.“K9 Zoe was deployed and quickly directed the cows to the Cape Fear River where they were safely rounded up without injury to themselves or any civilians,” CBPD wrote on their Facebook page.

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.