K9 Atos – Walsenburg, Colorado

Died 7/7/16
Handler – Sgt. John Salazar

Memorial service for Walsenburg K-9 to be held Friday

Walsenburg police are memorializing one of their canine crimefighters Friday. K-9 Atos died on July 7 after many years of service to the community. K9 Atos was 11 years old when he died. He had battled medical issues for the past two months. Atos joined his handler Sgt. John Salazar at the Walsenburg Police Department in April 2007. He worked on narcotics detection, tracking, suspect apprehension, and officer protection. During his tenure with the department, he helped find more than three pounds of illegal narcotics. He was deployed 157 times and made 19 arrests. The police department is holding a public memorial service Friday morning, and are inviting the public to attend. Atos was retired at the time of his death, and had been enjoying his golden years. A procession for the four-legged officer will be held down Main Street after the memorial concludes. The service will be at 10 a.m. at Walsenburg Church of Christ on 400 Walsen Ave. “The men and women of the Walsenburg Police Department would like to express our gratitude to Boies-Ortega Funeral Home of Walsenburg and the Walsenburg Church of Christ for their assistance with K9 Atos’ memorial service,” the police department said.

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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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