K9 Justice – St. Petersburg, Florida

Died 6/17/20
Handler – Officer Regan

St. Pete’s retired K9 ‘Justice’ passes away after years of serving city

St. Petersburg police are mourning the loss of one of their former K9 officers. The agency said K9 Justice passed away Wednesday. He was “known for his crazy. Just like his partner, Officer Regan.” Both had a lot of energy, making them the ideal K9 team. Justice, they said, was Regan’s first K9 partner. They trained for months and worked together from 2011 to 2014. Justice had to retire due to medical issues but lived in a “lap of luxury for the rest of his life with his loving family.” Officer Regan gave the following statement about Justice: “Justice had a unique fondness of music. I am an avid guitar player and Justice was my number one fan. He would sit with me for hours while I played – he chewed on his beloved Kong toy like a maniac. When I would stop to take a break for a minute, he would nudge my left hand to push it back up toward the neck as if he was saying: “Hey, keep playing. More!” Sometimes, if he was really feeling the vibes, he would bark at me. As soon as I would start playing again he would spin right back around and chomp on his Kong. We were both happy there, together. Maybe it wasn’t the guitar or music… He knew I was happy, so he was happy. But that was him. And that is what I will miss the most.

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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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