K9 Balto – Coral Springs, Florida

Died – 8/3/15

Retired Coral Springs K9 veteran dies

A police veteran has died from natural causes – a feisty K9 named Balto who for eight years sniffed out drugs and hunted down bad guys for the Coral Springs Police Department. Balto, a Dutch Shepherd, died Monday. He was diagnosed with a heart condition about six months ago. The 10-year-old dog was was born in the Netherlands. “He was a very loving dog,” said Lt. Joe McHugh, agency spokesman. “He would take part in career days at school and interact with the children, let them play with him. He was a very good dog. In 2011 Balto was recognized by police for catching a man who, investigators say, tried to rape a hotel employee and then ran from police. Balto had retired from the agency about two years ago when his handler moved to a different division. He stayed with the officer as a pet and was replaced in the K9 division. The agency has six active K9s who can hunt down suspects and track drugs, and a seventh dog sniffs drugs only. McHugh praised the work the K9 team does: “They can sniff out a bad guy before we can actually see them. They protect the officers. Their value to the police department and the community is invaluable.”Retired dogs don’t receive agency benefits so the union holds fundraisers to help pay for their medication and other vet bills.

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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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