K9 Josie – Greenville, South Carolina

Died – 10/29/24
Handler – Sgt. Jim Leathers

Retired Greenville County K9 Officer passes away after brief illness

The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office said a retired K9 officer passed away after a very brief illness.According to officials, K9 Officer Josie was a 10-year-old Mantrailing Bloodhound.She was donated to the sheriff’s office in August 2014 by Dr. Teresa Medlock, DVM of Arkansas, and began training in the art of scent discriminate trailing right away.K9 Officer Josie found both criminals and missing persons during her years of service with law enforcement. Her most notable case is when she found a missing three-year-old boy lost in the woods near Reedy River in Simpsonville on April 17, 2019. For this, she received a life-saving award from the National Police Bloodhound Association. Retired Sgt. Jim Leathers was her trainer/handler and cared for her both in service and retirement.

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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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