K9 Ellex – Watsonville, California

Died 5/12/20
Handler – Sergeant Mish Radich

Watsonville PD officers say their goodbyes to retired police K-9 Ellex

Losing such an important part of the family is never easy. WPD officers lined up to say their goodbyes to retired police dog K-9 Ellex, who had his final ride in a patrol car before he was put down Tuesday afternoon. The 11-year-old German Shepherd spent half his life fighting crime on the streets of Watsonville with his handler Sergeant Mish Radich. Ellex’s K-9 friends also met him at the vet to say their final farewell. Over the last year, Ellex’s health deteriorated drastically and Sgt. Radich had to make the difficult decision to put him down. “Ellex was a great partner and friend and I will miss him dearly,” said Sgt. Radich. Ellex was born in Germany in 2009. He was purchased by WPD with the assistance of the Watsonville Police Assistance Fund, in October of 2011. He was trained for search work and apprehensions, tracking, article/evidence recovery searches, and tactical deployments. During his five-year career, his work resulted in more than 125 apprehensions and the recovery of two loaded firearms, which were found during article searches. Ellex was retired by the department in November of 2016 and spent the rest of his years with the Radich family.

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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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