K9 Autumn – Lexington, South Carolina

Citizens join Sheriff Koon and his staff in mourning the loss of faithful K-9 officer Autumn the bloodhound

Citizens across Lexington County are joining Sheriff Jay Koon and his staff in mourning a faithful and dedicated K-9 officer, bloodhound Autumn, after she died following a short illness. Autumn, age 8, had been serving Lexington County for 8 years. According to the department’s social media pages, Autumn became suddenly ill last week. The department sought medical attention but unfortunately, she passed away earlier this week. The post did not specify what killed Autumn. Autumn was unique in that she was a bloodhound while the majority of K-9s used by the department are Belgium Malinois. The bloodhounds are not normally bite trained and are primarily dogs who track humans. Autumn was acquired by the department in 2017, she received special training that included tracking mainly missing or lost children and vulnerable adults. In the years that followed, she completed 544 deployments.Residents of Lexington County showed they were also hurting, sharing the post regarding Autumn’s death on Facebook more than 240 times in just 4 hours and commenting with messages of condolences more than 170 times. The Sheriff’s Department has not said whether there will be a time for department personnel or the community to come together for a memorial service honoring Autumn’s life.

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.