K9 Donn – West Springfield, Massachusetts

Died – 3/22/18
Handler – Officer Mark Cote

West Springfield Police mourning loss of K-9 Donn

One local police department is mourning the loss of a four-legged member of their force. On Thursday, West Springfield Police K-9 Donn was put to rest. He had been suffering from deteriorating health over the last several months, according to West Springfield Police Chief Ronald Campurciani. Campurciani noted that K-9 Donn was used as recently as last Saturday to investigate a suspicious package, but in just last few days, “his condition got much worse to the point where he was falling a lot just trying to walk.” K-9 Donn, a Belgian Malinois, was with the department for the last 8 years. He was assigned to Officer Mark Cote and while he was cross-trained in patrol work, bike work, searches, and narcotics, K-9 Donn did well with narcotics. “During his years of service he was responsible for the seizures of thousands of pounds of narcotics which resulted in the recovery of tens of thousands of dollars,” Campurciani explained. K-9 Donn was 11 years old.

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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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