K9 Kira – Columbia County, New York

Died – 10/5/21

Handler – Deputy Travis Van Alstyne 

Columbia County Sheriff’s Office announces passing of K9 Kira

Columbia County Sheriff David Bartlett announced with great sadness Monday the passing of K9 Kira who served county residents and visitors alike before retiring. The Sheriff’s Office said during the early morning on October 5, Kira had passed away from natural causes at her home with her loved ones.K9 Kira was a female German shepherd from East Slovakia who was reportedly acquired through a grant from the NYS Department of Homeland Security in 2010. Kira specialized in explosives detection, patrol, and tracking since joining the Sheriff’s Office. Deputy Travis Van Alstyne was Kira’s handler and partner. During their time together the two reportedly tracked many missing and wanted persons, performed several explosive sweeps and helped all kinds of other agencies across New York State as well as Massachusetts. Kira is said to have loved taking part in community events and demonstrations throughout the county, and is said to have had a unique knack to her personality that let her educate the public on what K9’s do for police agencies. The Sheriff’s Office said Kira eventually retired to stay home with Deputy Van Alstyne and his family enjoying a relaxed life of nature walks and pickup truck rides. “Losing a member of our department is a tragic event. This is no different if it is a police dog. Kira served with distinction. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Deputy Van Alstyne and his family,” stated Sheriff Bartlett.

 

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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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