K9 Rony – Plymouth County, Massachusetts

Died – 12/27/17
Handler – Deputy Sheriff James Creed

Officer Who Ended Deadly Taunton Rampage Loses K-9

The law enforcement community is mourning the loss of Rony, the police dog of Plymouth County Deputy Sheriff James Creed, who heroically ended a Taunton rampage in 2016. “RIP K-9 Rony, you served the community well. We are sorry for your loss Lt. Creed,” the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department said in a tweet on Wednesday. Rony worked alongside Creed to fight crime, although the K-9 was not with the off-duty deputy sheriff when Creed thwarted a violent attack inside the Silver City Galleria mall on May 10, 2016. Creed fatally shot Arthur DaRosa, who went on a stabbing rampage in Taunton, while having dinner inside the Bertucci’s in the Taunton mall that day. DaRosa had stabbed two people at a home in Taunton, drove to the mall, crashed the car into the Macy’s entrance and assaulted people there before stabbing more people inside the Bertucci’s. Two people died in the attacks. Patricia Slavin, 80, was killed in her home. George Heath, 56, was stabbed to death in Bertucci’s while trying to fend off DaRosa. Creed, in an exclusive interview with WBZ-TV, later downplayed heroics, calling George Heath the hero. Creed later trained a new police dog within the department, and named the K-9 Heath, in George’s honor. Rony is the latest K-9 to pass away in the region. On Saturday, the Brockton Police Department lost Koda, the K-9 partner of Officer Darvin Anderson, when the dog died during emergency surgery.“Koda was 7 1/2, served the @BrocktonPolice with distinction for 6 years,” Brockton Mayor Bill Carpenter said in a tweet.

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.