K9 Gunner – Washoe County, Nevada

Handler – Handler – Deputy Kimberlin

Retired K9 named Gunner dies

The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office has announced the death of one of its retired police service dogs, K9 Gunner. K9 Gunner passed with his retired partner, Deputy John Kimberlin, by his side. K9 Gunner was born in Prague, Czech Republic in February of 2007 and initially trained for law enforcement service at the prestigious Vohne Liche Kennels in Indiana.K9 Gunner was paired with Deputy Kimberlin in 2009, and the two served the residents of Washoe County until K9 Gunner’s retirement in 2014. During the course of his career with the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office K9 Unit, K9 Gunner located many lost or missing subjects, apprehended numerous violent felons, and located thousands of pounds of illegal narcotics within Washoe County.

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.