K9 Rainor – Norwalk, Connecticut

Connecticut Police Work Dog Association is sad to announce the passing of Retired K9 Rainor on 5/14/21 who was partnered with Officer Dave Peterson of the Norwalk Police Department. K9 Rainor was born in the Czech Republic in 2009 and began his career with the department in March 2010. K9 Rainor were the 1st runners up for the prestigious Daniel Wasson Memorial K9 award in 2014. Officer David Peterson and PSD Rainor were also selected by FLEOA for “K-9 Heroes” of 2014, where they were honored inside Fenway Park. K9 Rainor served for 9 years and was certified in Narcotics and Tracking. CPWDA sends our thoughts and prayers to the Peterson family, Norwalk Police Department and friends.Officer Peterson has been a member of the CPWDA since 6/2/10 to present and serves on the CPWDA Board of Directors since 2017 as South West Vice-President and member of NAPWDA since 2010, NPCA since 2011 and NNDDA since 2020. Officer Peterson is a Certifying Official with NPCA, NNDDA and CPWDA certifying over 50 Teams Bi-annually for Detection, Tracking and Patrol. Officer Peterson’s current partner is a 3 year old, all Black German Shepherd, Nova. PSD Nova is certified in Narcotics, Tracking and Patrol. Thank you Rainor for your service. R.I.P.

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.