K9 Cygan – Clay County, Florida

Died – 2/15/19
Handler – Detective Matt Lowery

Clay County Sheriff’s Office remembers K9 Cygan

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office is mourning the loss of one of their own. K9 Cygan, a retired member of the department died of natural causes on Friday. He served the Sheriff’s office from 2009 to 2016 — working over a thousand cases. “These dogs are part of our family. Plain and simple,” Clay County Sheriff’s deputy Chris Padgett said, reflecting on the importance of K9s on the force. Padgett remembers working cases over the years with Cygan and his handler Detective Matt Lowery. “They were best friends in the vehicle together,” Padgett recalled. “Back in the day, Detective Lowery had a Crown Vic, when we drove those, and just to see the two of them you’d forget Cygan was a K9 – he takes on the personality and he’s just another work partner.” First Coast News planned to interview Lowery, but the veteran detective was called out to a case just before our reporter arrived and could not meet. Lowery sent along pictures of his former companion. Padgett colored in the details about the German Shepard’s career, which tallied more than 1,000 call-outs. His service included tracking the scent for missing persons, hunting down criminals and sniffing out drugs across Clay County. “They’re hard chargers so it is rough on their bodies and things like that … the goal of the sheriff’s department is not to wear out the dogs,” Padgett said. Cygan was also a family dog. After serving seven years on the force – he retired in 2016, living with the Lowery family afterward. Cygan passing leaves his caretaker all alone for the first time in a decade. “It’s just tough because there’s a loyalty and a bond with Cygan,” Padgett said.Lowery said he is considering another tour with a new K9 – never forgetting the loyalty of his four-legged partner who he shared so much with over the years. No ceremony or public arrangements have been announced, but the Sheriff’s Office said it will support the Lowery family as they put a community’s best friend to rest.

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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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