K9 Kaine – Cookeville, Tennessee

Died – 4/30/18
Handler – Officer Ryder Cook

Beloved CPD K9 passes away

A beloved K9 of the Cookeville Police Department passed away Monday from an unforeseen medical condition. K9 Kaine joined the CPD in January 2015 and was assigned to Officer Ryder Cook October 2016. “Officer Cook and Kaine had been one of the strongest K9 teams that I have ever had the pleasure to train and work beside,” said Lt. James Harris, the CPD’s K9 coordinator. Kaine was certified multiple times as a dual purpose canine by the North American Police Work Dog Association and had many deployments during his time with the CPD. “Kaine was very focused in his work as a police dog and consistently served the City of Cookeville, along with other mutual aid calls,” reads the CPD’s release. “We will greatly miss our K9 partner who stood by Ryder’s side and who unselfishly served his community.”

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.