K9 Ares – St. Petersburg, Florida

K9 Ares – Died -8/16/19
Handler – Officer Vasquez

St. Pete police mourn the loss of K9 ‘Ares’

Members of the St. Petersburg Police Department are mourning the loss of one of their K9 officers. Police said Ares had to be put down during surgery on Friday night for Bloat, the agency announced through its Facebook page. The 8-year-old dog had been loyally serving the city since 2013, alongside his handler, Officer Vasquez. “Together, Officer Vazquez and Ares have chased, sniffed out and arrested over 300 criminals,” police wrote. Ares worked for six and a half years as a dual purpose patrol and explosive detection dog. “Ares had amazing tracking skills that made everybody confident that they would get their suspect into custody,” police wrote. “He performed at an extremely high level and was a master of his trade – finding bad guys.” The department described Ares as a loyal and dedicated servant of the city.

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.