K9 Defender – BNSF Railway, California

Died – 2/7/19

A sad story to report as an officer with BNSF accidentally shot and killed one of the his K-9 partners while on patrol last night. According to BNSF, while checking in the area of Highway 58 and Bena Road and Neumarkel Road in Kern County, California. the officer left his vehicle after locking the K9 “Defender” in the car and left the vehicle to search. Defender was able to leave the vehicle and followed after his partner.When he approached in the dark, the officer was startled and shot and killed the dog thinking it was a coyote. His handler, who had just been briefed on recent sightings of coyotes in the area, mistook Defender for a coyote and shot him. Officers were briefed early in the day of wild animal activity in the area, which had the officer on high alert. The officer involved as well as BNSF are devastated as Defender was partnered with the officer for over a year and even lived with him. Lena Kent, Director of Public Affairs for BNSF released a statement on the situation.

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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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