K9 Honey – Kerala, India

Kerala Police bids farewell to hero dog ‘Honey’ with full state honors

Honey, the calm and loyal Labrador Retriever who served the Kerala Police for seven years, has passed away. Honey, the only police dog to win the DGP award, died at the age of eight.Honey was a member of the Rural K-9 Squad and played a vital role in finding several culprits during her service. She contributed significantly to the investigation of the Thumbur and Chalakudy jewellery robbery cases and was instrumental in the murder investigation of a youth by guest worker in Mathilakam Bazar. For this particular achievement, Honey was awarded the DGP’s Badge of Honour in 2019.Born in Kerala in 2016, Honey was part of the initial two dogs that joined the K-9 Squad. After completing her training at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police’s National Training Centre for Dogs in Haryana, Honey ranked first in the tracker category. She joined the Kerala Police in 2017 and became a part of the K-9 Squad in 2018, beginning with the Thumbur St. George’s Church robbery investigation.Her handlers and police personnel remember Honey for her exceptional tracking abilities, unmatched sense of smell, and unshakeable calmness. Navneet Sharma, the Rural District Police Chief, described her passing as an “irreparable loss” to the police force.Key police officials, including Addl. Superintendent of Police V.A. Ullas, Rural District Special Branch DySP P Abdul Basheer, Irinjalakkuda Sub-Division Thrissur Rural DySP K.G. Suresh, K-9 Squad In-Charge P.G. Suresh, and handlers Rijesh Francis and P.R. Aneesh, paid their final tributes to Honey.

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.