K9 Ryot – Munroe Falls , Ohio

Died 5/29/21
Handler – Sgt. Anthony Mancuso

Former Munroe Falls K9 Ryot died May 29, a little over a year after retiring from the police department. “She apparently had some stomach issues according to the vet. She wasn’t acting herself, and unfortunately the humane thing was to put her down because it was affecting her organs,” Mayor James Armstrong reported Tuesday. Ryot’s handler Sgt. Anthony Mancuso obtained the Belgian Malinois in 2010 when she was 6 weeks old and when he was serving as an officer in the Wellsville Police Department. The two had worked for Munroe Falls for the last eight years of Ryot’s career. During her nine year and two month career career, the last eight of which were with Munroe Falls, Ryot had 478 deployments and 388 arrests to her credit, Mancuso said. Of those, 108 were felony arrests. She retired officially on May 17, 2020, and was living as a pet with Mancuso.

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.