K9 Zeke – Putnam, Florida

Handler – Sgt. Vieira

Putnam County retired K9 Zeke passes away in his sleep

The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office announced the passing of its retired K9 officer Zeke, who passed away in his sleep last night at 11 years old. During Zeke’s career, he removed countless drug dealers off the streets. He additionally helped with numerous apprehensions of shooting suspects, burglary suspects, absconded child predators and helped locate missing persons. Zeke had a penchant for knowing when others needed him and where he wanted to be. In 2018, when his partner, Sgt. Vieira, was promoted and he would be assigned a new handler, Zeke mysteriously started limping. Veterinarians determined he had a degenerative condition and it would be beneficial for him to retire rather than jump in and out of a patrol vehicle every day. The decision was made that Zeke would live with Vieira upon his retirement and miraculously, a month after retirement, Zeke was no longer limping. Viera joked that although he did have the medical condition and not going to work every day helped, he thinks Zeke missed his family more.Zeke will be missed by those who he left behind. He left his mark on those who worked with him, as well as many schoolchildren and scouts he met for demonstrations. He will be especially missed by his family and his best friend Vieira.

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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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