K9 Medo – Allegan County, Michigan

Died – 4/3/19
Handler – Deputy Ben Haas

Allegan County Sheriff’s Office mourning loss of veteran K9 Medo

It is with great sadness to share with all of you that one of our K9’s, Medo, has passed away earlier this morning, he would have been 9 years old in July. Medo has been with our Office since 2011 and was partnered with Deputy Ben Haas. Our Office received Medo as a gift from the Gun Lake Tribe and Casino in 2011 when Medo was 11 months old. As with all our K9’s, they become a part of their handler’s family; our thoughts and prayers are with the Haas family during this time. In his career, Deputy Haas and Medo were active in hundreds of cases including suspect apprehension, locating multiple missing persons and lost children, drug interdiction, and school programs from instructional demonstrations to drug searches. Deputy Haas said that his most memorable search was in May of 2015, when Medo and Deputy Haas were called to locate a 2-year-old who had gone missing from his home. Medo and Deputy Haas searched for over 6 hours and were able to locate him. Sheriff Baker had this to say: “Medo was very loved by everyone that met him especially children and was a valued member of our Office, who served us well. A few years ago, he was responsible for saving the life of a small child who had wandered off from home during inclement weather. He will be missed.”

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.