K9 Jonka – Worcester, Maryland

Died – 1/29/18
Handler – Sgt. Katie Edgar

Worcester mourns death of retired K-9

Sheriff Mason and staff are saddened to report the passing of retired K-9 Jonka(Yon-Ka) who passed away today. K-9 Jonka was born on Christmas Day in 2005 and was assigned to Sgt. Katie Edgar as her patrol K-9. K-9 Jonka performed her duties with devotion to this agency and to her handler for many years and was retired in 2016 .During her 8 years of service, K-9 Jonka performed hundreds of tracks, scans, building searches, and more importantly, protected her handler and made sure each night they returned home as a team. The bond between a K-9 team is one that few get to experience. K-9 Jonka would go on to excel at her job. She would compete and win at trials and events. Not many Shepherds can keep pace with a Malinois in a race, but not only could she keep pace, she was faster than many, and held her own placing in the top three in one of the “fastest dog” categories at the Lehigh Valley K9 Trials. Her narcotics detection was unmatched, and her absolute favorite discipline.K-9 Jonka’s personality was infectious. Everyone loved her. Her nickname was “The Bean” because she was like a little jumping bean with her goofy behavior, from jumping into golf carts at Frontier Town to go for rides, to scaring the Good Humor man when she jumped up on the window….only because she wanted an ice cream of course. She earned an incredible reputation of reliability at her tasks. There are countless stories of her performance but one of the most notable was during an incident involving a burglary where the suspect, while trying to flee, attempted to run over Sgt. Edgar and K-9 Jonka. Shots were fired and during the entire incident K-9 Jonka stood by Sgt. Edgar’s side, never feigning or fleeing. It was a testament to her loyalty and love.At the end of the day K-9 Jonka was a loving pet and family member, whose only drive was to please everyone she came in contact with. Our thoughts are with Sgt. Edgar and family. Jonka you 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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