K9 Apollo – Greater Sudbury, Canada

Handler – Constable Greg Major

Farewell Apollo: Sudbury Police bid farewell to one of its finest

Greater Sudbury Police Service bid farewell this week to one of its own. It wasn’t a human officer who passed away, though. The service said goodbye to Apollo, an eight-year veteran of the GSPS canine unit. “With the heaviest of hearts and overwhelming sorrow, we say goodbye to one of Greater Sudbury’s finest K9 service dogs, Apollo,” GSPS posted to Facebook. “Best friend and partner to Constable (Greg) Major, the pair was quite the dynamic duo.” Major and Apollo were partnered up in 2009. After his eight years of service, Apollo retired earlier this year “as an exemplary member of the service.” “Apollo was driven, determined and loyal to the end,” reads the GSPS Facebook post. “For those lucky enough to have shared his life saw a passionate, fun-loving, and young at heart dog.” GSPS extended condolences to Major and his family, as the constable not only lost his partner, but his family lost one of its own. To ensure a tight crime-fighting bond between handler and animal, a police dog lives with its partner. Major shared the post on his own Facebook page and condolences poured in from friends and family, expressing their sympathy to the constable and their love for Apollo. “Rest in Peace Apollo and until we meet again across the Rainbow Bridge.” The GSPS canine unit uses German shepherds for general service work and Labrador retrievers for passive detection jobs, the service’s website states.

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.