K9 Drago – Columbia, Florida

Died – 6/21/22

Florida K9 Deputy Drago dies following heat-related injury

The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office in north Florida is mourning the loss of one of its own. Authorities said Canine Deputy Drago died Tuesday evening, hours after suffering a heat-related injury during a training exercise with his handler. Drago was taken to a veterinarian clinic in Lake City for treatment, where deputies said he started showing signs of improvement. He was released to go home to his handler. Sadly, when his handler checked on him that evening, CCSO said it was discovered that Drago had passed away.”It really hurts to lose a member of the CCSO family. Drago was one of our most senior Canine Deputies and his loss will be felt within our K9 program and our CCSO family,” Sheriff Mark Hunter said in a statement.Drago served the community alongside CCSO since November 2017.

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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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