K9 Figo – Cullman County, Alabama

Died – 1/5/20
Handler – Deputy Adam Clark

Sheriff Matt Gentry and the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office are saddened to report the passing of one of its 4 legged Deputies. K9 “Figo” has passed away due to health related issues on Tuesday. Figo was the long time partner of Deputy Adam Clark. Both Deputy Clark and Figo were injured in a vehicle accident last February. Lt. Matthew Bales, who is over the K9 program, has been working with Figo in an attempt to rehabilitate him since the accident. On February 11, 2020 Clark was on duty and responding to a call when dispatchers lost radio contact with him. Deputies, firefighters, police were all searching the area and it was about an hour later when a Cullman police officer spotted Clark’s cruiser down a ravine on Alabama 69 South between Bremen and Dodge City. Asked how long they believed Clark had been in the ravine, Gentry said, “We can safely say an hour plus,’’ he said. Once Clark was extracted, he was taken to a Huntsville hospital. Deputies later that day transported Figo to Auburn University. Clark had serious injuries. and recovered from several surgeries. He spent several months at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, a facility that specializes in spinal cord and brain injury rehabilitation. He and Figo won awards for their work together.
Figo was a Belgian Malinois. He and his partner were responsible for numerous arrests and for removing large amounts of narcotics from Cullman County. K9 Figo will be missed.

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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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