K9 Brutus – La Crosse, Wisconsin

Died – 8/15/17
Handler – Officer Casey Rossman

La Crosse Police K9 Brutus passes away

The La Crosse Police Department reports the passing of a dedicated member of its crime fighting force, the K-9 named Brutus. News 19 has featured Brutus and his handler, Officer Casey Rossman in many stories through the years, recently this past May when he received a special wheel chair for dogs. Brutus joined the department in 2010 and retired earlier this year due to health issues. Unfortunately, Brutus’ health problems led to his death on Tuesday. “Brutus was the focal point of many of our Facebook posts and some of our twitter photos for his work and because the dog was so photogenic and was an easy dog to be around and so it’s a tough time for Officer Rossman, his partner for seven years,” says Capt. Jason Melby. At News 19, we send our thoughts to Officer Rossman and his family for the loss of a partner and family member.

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.