K9 Tarro – Redding, California

Died – 1/12/19
Handler – Officer Ryan Ellis

Retired Redding K-9 ‘Tarro,’ survivor of marijuana-spiked brownies poisoning, dies

Tarro, the retired Redding police dog that was given marijuana-spiked brownies and a sedative during a home burglary last March and survived the poisoning, has died. Communities for Police Canines said Tarro died Saturday from surgery complications. He was about 10 years old. “K9 Tarro faithfully served the Redding Community for over 7 years before retiring in 2017,” the nonprofit wrote in a Facebook post Monday. His handler, officer Ryan Ellis said Tarro was a successful crime fighter. “What made Tarro special though, was his aloofness and easy going mentality on and off duty,” he said in the post. Retiredpaws.org and Communities for Police K9 helped with Tarro’s medical care expenses. The retired police dog’s poisoning caught statewide attention last year. Two men were subsequently arrested on suspicion of poisoning the dog and burglarizing his handler’s home. Joshua David Norton, 35, remains at Shasta County Jail awaiting a February trial on burglary and other criminal charges stemming from the case, while Cal Joseph Demercurio Jr. was sentenced after pleading no contest to burglary.

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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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