K9 Helo – Youngstown, Ohio

Died 11/3/15
Handler – Officer Josh Kelly

K9 Helo Mourned

The city police department is mourning the loss of police dog Helo. The dog, who was paired with handler Josh Kelly for seven years, passed away Nov. 3.Helo was 12 years old and he was retired from police service at the end of September when Kelly began work with his new dog, Gustav.Helo was the last of a class of dogs that began service in 2007 that was still working for the department. One of those dogs has since also passed, police dog Ninja at the beginning of 2014, and two other dogs are no longer active police dogs because their handlers are no longer working with police dogs.

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.