K9 Aries – Uintah County, Utah

Died – 5/22/18
Handler – Deputy Kyle Fuller

Deputy Fuller provided the following. On May 22, 2018 K9 Aries left our pack with the Uintah County Sheriff’s K9 Unit to start his own. Aries was the first ever certified explosive detection K9 in the Uintah Basin. Aries completed training in September of 2016 and was certified on explosives from each of the different families of explosives. Aries was also certified on bite apprehension, tracking, and trailing. Aries was deployed multiple times on bomb threats, homicide investigations, probation checks, tracking fleeing subjects, and evidence location that extended beyond the boundaries of Uintah County. Aries trained exceptionally hard for hours each week in order to be prepared to deploy at a moments notice. Aries was a small Belgian Malinois with and an enormous amount of energy. Aries enjoyed searching so much he could deploy for hours at a time looking for explosives. If Aries kennel inside our patrol vehicle was left open even slightly, Aries would try his hardest to get into the passenger seat to see what was going on. I had the privilege of training and deploying with K9 Aries. I always knew that I could trust Aries if deployed in any situation. When others were being evacuated from a bomb threat Aries and I were going in to make sure the area was safe. I knew I could always trust Aries would not miss anything in those tense situations. Aries would watch me each and every time I got out of my patrol vehicle on a traffic stop or made contact with someone, making sure that I was safe. Aries would alert me if anyone walked up on our patrol vehicle which gave me peace of mind in a time when officers are being shot while eating or just fueling up their vehicles.Aries was recently diagnosed with cancer which lead to stomach complications. I appreciate the honor to be a part of Aries K9 team and he will be sorely missed.

Deputy Kyle Fuller

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.