K9 Alex – Dothan, Alabama

Died 7/7/20

Dothan K-9 dies from cancer

Dothan Police K-9 dog, Alex, sadly passed away last night from a short lived battle with cancer, but, the Dothan Police K-9 unit are still hard at work, even amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Dothan K-9 unit officers didn’t let a pandemic stop them from continuing their training and work with their canine counterparts. Handlers from different counties are still coming to Dothan to learn from Lieutenant W.E. Wozniak. “COVID hasn’t affected us one bit as far as the k-9 training side of it,” Lieutenant Wozniak said. “I mean, of course, we’re still trying to be as careful as we can, you know, human to human. As far as the dogs, we haven’t seen an issue and haven’t had an issue with COVID.” Dothan K-9 are trained to find explosives, track missing persons, and run down suspects. Bella is a detection dog for illegal substances and potential explosives in luggage, cars, and other areas. Alex was part of the special response team for the Dothan unit. “It was our decision not to bring that dog back, and Alex was our number two, and you know, we brought Alex back.” Wozniak said. “It was probably one of the best decisions we’ve ever made because, like I said, he worked from 2012 to July 7, 2020. He was on duty when the illness really took affect.” Although the unit must move forward, the team will never forget the work Alex did for the community.

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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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