K9 Storm – Cache County, Utah

Died 8/9/18

Cache County police K9 dies after ingesting Foxtail weeds at public event

A police K9 serving with Cache County Sheriff’s Office died in surgery this week after inadvertently ingesting Foxtail weeds. According to the Cache County Sheriff’s Office, Storm was a 2-year-old Malinois who joined their K9 team in 2017. Storm was at a public event Tuesday night with his handler demonstrating skills and abilities, and then Wednesday morning a K9 deputy noticed the dog was acting strangely. Storm was taken to a veterinarian, who found fluid around Storm’s lungs and chest. The fluid was drained and X-rays were taken. The vet determined Storm had inhaled or ingested Foxtail weeds, and surgery was scheduled to remove them and the infected areas. Police say Storm died during that surgery. “Foxtail weeds have barbed seed heads, and they can work themselves into any part of an animal’s body,” the press release states. “The danger with Foxtail are the seeds do not break down once inside the body and can cause massive infection.” Police say that both veterinarians they consulted say the handler caught the issue in the early stages and were optimistic Storm would recover. They say his death was a very unexpected circumstance. A memorial service for Storm is being planned. “We want to thank both Cache Meadow Veterinarian Clinic and Dr. Ravi Seshadri from the Advance Care Clinic in Salt Lake City for their expertise, care, and compassion for Storm, our deputy, and our Office,” the release states.

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.