K9 Patriot – St. Johns, Florida

Died 9/17/24
Handler – Deputy Doug Kowieski

St. Johns County K9 passes away after more than 9 years of service

The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office announced that one of its K9s passed away after more than 9 years of service.Officials said K9 Patriot, a Yellow Labrador Retriever, served in narcotics detection, tracking and evidence alongside his handler Deputy Doug Kowieski.Patriot started as a K9 Apprentice at eight weeks old with Kowieski in 2014 and passed away on Sept. 17, a few days before they planned to retire together.Patriot and Kowieski were assigned to the SJSO Youth Services Unit and were deployed to more than 400 service calls and assisted in over 100 arrests.Patriot was known to be “gentle and playful” and would go “paw to paw” with his apprehension K9 brothers and sisters during his training days.SJSO said Patriot had two ACL surgeries and survived two cancer surgeries before he died.”K9 Patriot spent his life protecting and serving the students, faculty, and staff at our schools, and the citizens of St. Johns County. He was a special member of the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office family, and his hard work and dedication will always be remembered. Please keep Deputy Kowieski and his family in your thoughts during this difficult time,” Sheriff Hardwick said.SJSO is asking people to complete Patriot’s coloring sheet which will be given to Kowieski and his family.

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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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