K9 Mojo – DeKalb, Indiana

Died – 7/6/17
Handler – Officer Courtney Fuller

Police K9 dies of heat stroke left in squad car

An Indiana sheriff’s department K9 died of apparent heat stroke Thursday after his handler failed to remove him from the back of his squad car. According to a release from DeKalb County Sheriff Don Lauer, DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department School Resource Officer Courtney Fuller and K9 Mojo returned home from duty around 3 p.m. Thursday. Fuller, though, became distracted by a “situation” with his newborn child and never removed Mojo from the back of his county squad car. Fuller noticed Mojo was not in his kennel around 7:15 p.m., Lauer said. He went out to the squad car and found Mojo dead of an apparent heat stroke. Fuller immediately contacted his supervisor, who contact the Allen County Sheriff’s Department to conduct an investigation, according to Lauer. That investigation continues. Mojo was taken to Purdue University for a necropsy to officially confirm the cause of death. Fuller, who served as the SRO at Eastside Junior/Senior High School in Butler with Mojo, has been placed on suspension pending the result of the investigation, Lauer said. “The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department regrets this tragic mistake and mourns the loss of one of its members,” Lauer wrote in a release. No other information was provided.

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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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