K9 Nero – St.Petersburg, Florida

Handler – Officer Cooper

St.Petersburg police K-9 dies after years of service

Sad news to report today as the St.Petersburg Police Department says one of their police K9’s has passed away due to a brain tumor. K9 Nero had been apart of the department since May 2014. In a Facebook post, the St. Petersburg Police Department called Nero “A dedicated and faithful servant of the police department and the City since May 2014.” For the last five years, Officer Cooper and K-9 “Nero” have tracked, sniffed out and arrested numerous bad guys. Though Nero worked hard at putting criminals behind bars, he had a special personality trait; he was actually very friendly. He and Officer Cooper were the go-to-team to perform demonstrations that showed off his obedience, agility and strength. Nero’s friendship was highly sought after from the employees in the Emergency Communications Center to community groups like the Boy Scouts. We are saddened today to relay the news that K-9 “Nero” had to be euthanized due to a brain tumor. He was a dedicated and faithful servant of the police department and the City since May 2014. Nero was seven years old. He will certainly be issed.The K-9 Unit and the Cooper Family are in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. How did Nero get his name? Typically, a K-9 Officer will change the name of a new dog. But when Officer Cooper was listening to the German trainers where he first met this dog, it sounded like they were calling him Nero. (They could have been calling him something different, but with the German accent, it really sounded like Nero!) Since Officer Cooper held our late Sergeant Horace Nero near and dear as a mentor and a legacy, he decided to keep “Nero” as the canine’s name. We think that Sergeant Nero had a little something to do with how friendly K-9 Nero was with people and the community. Thank you for your service Nero.

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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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