K9 TOSTI – West Fargo – North Dakota

Died 10/22/22
Handler – Officer Ben Orr

West Fargo Police K9 passes away unexpectedly

It’s a sad day for the West Fargo Police Department after authorities say one of its K9′s crossed the rainbow bridge unexpectedly earlier this week. K9 ToSti (Toe-chee) was a 7-year-old Dutch Shepherd that joined WFPD in November 2015. He was paired with Officer Ben Orr and was deployed over 800 times for tasks including narcotic detection, suspect tracking, building searches and article recovery. A release on ToSti’s death say he passed away on Oct. 22 due to an unforeseen medical emergency while off duty.“K-9 ToSti was a loyal companion and dedicated his life to ensure the safety of his handler, fellow officers and the residents of West Fargo,” said Chief Denis Otterness. “He was a valuable member of our department and will be greatly missed.” The public is invited to line the south side of 4th Ave. E., in front of West Fargo City Hall at 800 4th Ave. E. for the procession for K-9 ToSti at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 28. The procession route will start heading west on Main Ave. from 45th St., turn south on 3rd St. E., and then head east on 4th Ave. E. The procession will end at the West Fargo Police Department. K-9 ToSti has been deployed to support the West Fargo Police Department, Fargo Police Department, Cass County Sheriff’s Office, Moorhead Police Department, Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Red River Valley SWAT, North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigations, North Dakota Highway Patrol, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.The department’s thoughts and prayers go out to Officer Orr and his family for the loss of a very valuable member of the K-9 Unit and police department 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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