K9 Sonic – Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania

Died – 1/20/20
Handler – Officer Tim Crane

Pittsburgh Police Announce Death Of Retired K-9 Sonic

The Pittsburgh Police K-9 Unit is mourning the loss of K-9 Sonic. “It is with a heavy heart that we report the passing of retired Pittsburgh Police K9 Sonic,” they announced on Facebook. The police say K-9 Sonic began his service in January of 2012 and continued to work with the K-9 Unit until March of 2018. K-9 Sonic then went to live with his handler, retired Pittsburgh Police Officer Tim Crane and his family, the post says. He passed away January 20 at age 9.The City of Pittsburgh says it uses K-9s for several different things, including finding illegal guns and tracking down people.

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.