K9 Willy – Evansville, Indiana

Died – 12/13/22
Handler – Detective John Montgomery

Retired EPD K9 passes away after battle with health issues

A former K9 Officer with the Evansville Police Department passed away on Tuesday. The announcement, shared by the Southern Indiana Police Canine Association Inc., says that retired EPD K9 Willy passed away on Tuesday afternoon after a battle with healt issues. According to the announcement, K9 Willy had an interesting story. He was raised as a competition duck hunting dog and joined the EPD in 2012, working with two handlers before being assigned to Detective John Montgomery.K9 Willy was certified in Narcotics Detection and worked as a drug dog in the Joint Task Force Unit, where he helped sniff out hundreds of pounds of drugs. The Southern Indiana Police Canine Association Inc. says that Willy retired in 2016, and spent the remainder of his life with his John and his family.You can see photos and more on K9 Willy below, from the Southern Indiana Police Canine Association Inc.

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.