K9 Nikita – Worcester, Massachusetts

Died – 10/3/22
Handler – Capt. Thomas Chabot

Worcester County Sheriff’s Office announces death of K9 Nikita

The Worcester County Sheriff’s Office announced the passing of police K9 Nikita Monday night.Nikita was the department’s first adopted K9 under Worcester County Sheriff Lew Evangelidis. He was about 10 and a half years old and lived with the family of Capt. Thomas Chabot. Nikita was adopted from the Sterling Animal Shelter after being found in a landfill in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Evangelidis said.“The Sheriff’s Office is deeply saddened by the loss of K9 Officer Nikita,” Evangelidis said. “Nikita played a very special role in the department. He was a loyal companion to Captain Chabot and served as an asset when it came to narcotics detection. Our deepest condolences go out to our K9 Unit and the Chabot family.”

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.