K9 Kai – Cedartown, Georgia

Handler – Sgt. Jon Zuker

Beloved K-9 officer dies from cancer

The City of Cedartown passed along sad news late in the week, that one of their beloved K-9 officers had to be put down following a battle with cancer. Kai, who had long served as the canine component of a team with Sgt. Jon Zuker for the Cedartown Police, was joined in his final hours by local law officers who served alongside him during a 7 year career in Polk County. “While gathered at the vet’s office, officers shared stories of one of the most personable police dogs they’d ever met. Kai was serious about police work, but always enjoyed a good game of fetch on the lawn outside of the department,” a release on the City of Cedartown facebook reported. “He was a fan of rubs, pats and “atta boys” and was known to be generous with his licks — especially when it came to his handler and partner, Sgt. Jon Zuker.” Trained in tracking, suspect apprehension and narcotic alerting, Kai served with Zuker until his retirement in 2015, when the new K-9 officer “Baro” was brought onto the force. “He was a well loved member of the Zuker family as well as the City of Cedartown family,” the post added.Cedartown Police Chief Jamie Newsome said plans were underway to officially honor their former comrade once his remains are processed and returned to Zuker, and will be announced when finalized.

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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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