K9 Duke – Effingham County, Georgia

Died 6/22/20
Handler – Cpl Thompson

On Monday 06/22/2020, retired Sgt K-9 Duke passed away at Webbs Animal Clinic. Duke was born 10/6/2007 and served with the US Army 75th Ranger Battalion. He served heroically in Afghanistan before retiring and finding his new assignment with Corporal Jamie Thompson at the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office in 2010. Sgt K-9 Duke served the citizens of Effingham County for 5 years before retiring into the care of Cpl Thompson and his loving family. Sgt K-9 Duke spent the last 5 years living a pampered life of retirement. We offer our condolences to Cpl Thompson and his family and wish to honor Sgt K-9 Duke for his service to this country and this community.

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.