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State police mourn loss of beloved K-9
Drago worked for 8 years with Trooper Brian McKenna

Massachusetts State Police are mourning the loss of a K-9 who had worked for eight years as a patrol and narcotics
detection dog, K9 Drago "who was a strong dog with a calm demeanor who loved his job," state police said. Drago died
from abdominal cancer last week. He was credited with locating a violent kidnapping suspect in Wenham, on the very
last patrol of his career in August. The dog, who was 10-years-old, was the partner of Trooper Brian McKenna.
submitted by Jim Cortina, Dir. CPWDA

Newton’s first police dog has died
Diva’s favorite place in the house was the cool floor in front of the fireplace, and her mom’s favorite picture of Diva is
her doing just that. Yes, Diva was a dog, but not just any dog. Especially to those who housed her and thought of her
as more than a pet or an animal. “She was our daughter. She was part of us. Everybody knew that she wasn’t
just a dog. She was basically one of our children,” said Tiffany Cook, Diva’s owner and K9 mom. K9 Diva,
the first full-service K9 Newton County purchased, trained and maintained, passed away July 10, and
a memorial will be given in her honor by We Ride To Provide Monday at 1 p.m. at Grace Baptist Church in Porterdale.

Cook, a dispatcher and supervisor at the Covington-Newton County 911 Communications Center, said she and her husband,
Charles, a corporal with the Newton County Sheriff’s Office, started taking care of Diva in 2006 before retiring
her in 2007. Cook said she was one of the few cadaver dogs in the state at the time. Since her retirement, Diva has
“been at home and a family pet, watchdog and guard dog for the house,” Cook said. “She really became attached
to the kids. She’s been part of our family for seven years.”

Diva shared the Cook family’s home with another police dog, K9 Sam, and a family dog, Daisy. And they brought
home a puppy Thursday, named Avida. In 2007, Diva was pulled out of retirement to help solve a homicide case
of Hwy. 212, and Diva’s efforts led to the arrest of Franklin Elliott Benson for the murder of Leslyan Williams.
“She was just such a good dog,” Cook said. “She never knew the life of a dog because she was treated like royalty.
She was treated like a queen.” The queen bee will be honored by We Ride To Provide, a non-profit that pays
tribute to fallen police dogs in Georgia and raises money through an annual motorcycle ride to help law
enforcement officers purchase equipment for their K9s. Holly Cripps, of We Ride To Provide, said Diva, who has
been cremated, will be transported from Paws, Whiskers & Wags in Decatur to the church, where there will be
speakers and a slideshow. "Diva,” Cripps said, “mattered to a lot of people.”
submitted by Jim Cortina, Dir. CPWDA
More INFO:

Newton County Sheriff's Office -K9s

The Newton County Sheriff's Office K-9 Unit currently consists of four K-9 dogs. Each K-9 and their handler receive extensive
specialized training in each area of service that they perform. During his first term in office, Sheriff Brown quickly recognized
the benefit that law enforcement K-9's provide to our community. As such, he has expanded the existing K-9 program by
adding three Bloodhounds.
These K-9s are highly effective in locating lost or missing persons, such as small children and Alzheimer's
patients, as well as locating fleeing suspects and escapees. Our Bloodhound's names are Pete, Elvis, and Jiggs.
In addition to our Bloodhounds, the Sheriff's Office deploys a Belgian Malinois named Chloe, and a German Shepherd,
named Sam, who is assigned to the Crime Suppression Unit. Chloe is the senior K-9 at the Sheriff's Office.
She is trained in narcotics detection, and is assigned to the School Resource Unit.
Our K-9 handlers take their assigned dog home at the end of their shift, and the dog becomes a part of
the family. In addition to scheduled shifts, our K-9 teams are on-call 24 hours a day and respond regularly to
assist not only the Newton County Sheriff's Office, but neighboring agencies.
http://www.newtonsheriffga.org/division.html
submitted by Jim Cortina, Dir. CPWDA

Sheriff's Department says goodbye to K9 partner
Deputy remembers dog as 'good friend'

Deputy Anthony Clayton, seen in a 2008 file photo with his K-9 partner,
Diago, is mourning the recent death of his dog.

The Livingston County Sheriff’s Department is mourning one of its own, police canine Diago, who was euthanized Wednesday
after a battle with prostate cancer. Diago, the canine partner of Deputy Anthony Clayton, had a successful career that included tracking and finding alive an Alzheimer’s patient who had wandered away from his home in Shiawassee County. He also cleared several Livingston County schools and a Genesee County court building during bomb threats and tracked crime suspects. “He’s the reason
I made it home all the time,” Clayton said, emotions choking his words. “He was a good friend, and I miss him. ”Diago,
a 6-year-old dual-purpose explosives K-9, began treatment for an inflamed prostate about two weeks ago. On Monday,
his blood results “were fine,” Clayton said.

Diago’s veterinarian told Clayton, however, that his partner had developed cancer and nothing could be done to help.
“It’s unexplained,” the sheriff’s deputy said. “He had gained about 10 pounds of fluid in five to six days, and it was
ripping holes in his cavities and racing toward his heart. “He was much too young,” Clayton said. “How do I find the
right words? We were on patrol 12 to 13 hours a day. We would train all the time. He watched my back. He barked
or alerted me to things I didn’t see.” Central Dispatch 911 requested a moment of radio silence for Diago while
he was being euthanized Wednesday. Radio traffic resumed once Diago passed.

Undersheriff Michael Murphy said Diago was an invaluable member of the department because he was specifically trained
in detecting explosives. “There are crimes that have been solved as a result of (Diago) and bad guys caught as a result,”
he said. In one incident, Diago tracked a man wanted in connection with a Brighton city Coney Island break-in. While
the man initially escaped Diago’s track, Diago located the man’s bloody clothing, which led to DNA that identified a suspect.
It was the first time a Brighton Police Department case was made solely on DNA from a K9 track, Clayton said.

In addition, Diago located an explosive device at a Hartland golf course after police received reports of explosives being
used in the area. He also found lost children who had wandered away from playgrounds or their homes. Diago also was
considered a family member to Clayton’s young children. Diago was born in the Netherlands and trained at the
Oakland County Patrol Dog Academy. He became a member of the Livingston County Sheriff’s Department at 18 months
old when he and his handler graduated from the Oakland academy in June 2008. His presence at the department was
possible through sponsors Pet Supplies Plus in Hartland Township, Brighton and Milford, as well as the Brighton Masonic Lodge,
Tanger Outlet Center at Kensington Valley in Howell Township and Wal-Mart in Genoa Township —
all of which made donations to the Sheriff’s Department’s K9 program.
submitted by Jim Cortina, Dir. CPWDA

A Mass. state trooper has posted a heartfelt letter about his fallen K-9 on the Facebook page of the Mass. State Police.

According to the letter, State Trooper Christopher Coscia’s K-9, Dante, passed away after nine years of partnership.
Some of Dante’s accomplishments include the locating of 1,000 grams of Heroin, 8,600 grams of cocaine, and 1,000 lbs.
of marijuana. The full letter follows below:

One Last Ride
By Trooper Christopher Coscia

It was a cold snowy day, training was cancelled due to the snowstorm, and I was left with the unenviable task of when
I should make the decision to put my partner of nearly nine years to sleep.

Dante was a great dog. He was big, beautiful, black and tan shepherd. I often described him as a look-a-like for the
dog in the show “Run Joe Run,” for those old enough to remember that program. He had a regal look, with his big head,
ears and large stature. He had his own personality. Most dogs are just dogs, but you sometimes run into ones
that are somehow as much human as they are dog. A Type A dog was only to be touched by those closest to him,
and sometimes not even by them.

Dante was best described as a one-person dog, and as tough as he was for other people to get close to, our relationship
never waivered. Every morning when I opened the door to his kennel he would jump up on me, wrap his paws
around my waist, get his morning greeting and pat from me, storm up the stairs, and push the door open ready to go to work.

During Dante’s career he was able to answer calls in towns as far west as Lee, North Adams, and Shutesbury,
and calls as far east as Brighton, and even, for a few of his last successful calls, on the South Shore. Once he
was able to track and locate a guy who had just murdered his girlfriend, and another time he located a cash
seizure that was several times greater than the previous largest seizure in Commonwealth history. During his
career he helped to rid the streets of drugs. He was able to locate and assist in the seizure of more than
1,000 grams of Heroin, more than 8,600 grams of cocaine (one seizure alone of more than 7 lbs. that had been
canned mechanically), more than 1,000 lbs. of marijuana, and more than $14,000,000 in cash.

Dante was very intelligent; one day when I was out with him I made the mistake of teaching him to open the
cruiser door -- a task which took five minutes once I showed him how. From that, Dante figured out that
doors open with handles, and all you have to do is grab them with your mouth and pull or turn. He took this
new knowledge and taught himself to slide open the door that separated us in the cruiser, his way to always
be close to me. While on patrol he would occasionally stick his head through for his occasional ear rub.
When you see such a powerful, intelligent dog so helpless at times somehow made the events that follow even harder.

It all started one day while taking Dante out to his kennel. He collapsed on me, falling like a rock with no
control of his body. After several tests it was obvious to the vet that Dante had pulmonary hypertension,
a disease of unknown cause that prevented him from getting enough oxygen to his lungs and making him collapse.
The right side of his heart was enlarged, causing poor blood circulation. As the weeks went on, he started
getting seizures because of the same lack of oxygen to his brain. He had one of these seizures in the yard
the other day, and after I sat on the ground in the snow with him patting him calmly waiting for it to be over,
I came in the house. Upon walking in, to my dismay, I realized my wife and two children had been intently
watching us to make sure all was okay. But it wasn’t and when I walked in the door, my wife and daughter were
crying, knowing what was to be coming, possibly sooner than we were ready. My son was sitting very somberly,
thinking if we don’t dwell on it things it will get better. My son and daughter were 3 and 1 when I,
respectively, when I got Dante. They knew him practically their entire lives.

The day came when it was time to take him to the vet for the inevitable. After more than 2,300 rides that
we took together, the dog who had trouble making out to the yard just feet away sat upright in his car for One Last Ride.

It was a ride I had I delayed for eight hours, just driving around with him as we did so many times, struggling
with the decision to put him down. He sat upright, alert as ever, checking the perimeter always on guard.
How does the dog who can barely breathe remain upright and vigilant for so long?

I sit here writing this obituary in a parking lot not two miles before we reached our final destination.
My story is as written, and although it jumps about it is written from the heart. I write this story with tears
in my eyes and flowing freely down my face. Dante is still somehow sitting upright watching me as I write
about him, every once in a while sticking his head through the cage, letting me know things will be alright.
But the more he reassures me, the more I wonder if what I am doing is right. I am glad he made it
through the holidays. My wife’s birthday was yesterday. I did not want to do that to her; for her to
remember her birthday as the day we put down Dante would forever bring a tear to her eye. Much as it
does to me as I write this with every new thought and remembrance of my partner, each paragraph
brings a new thought and anguish for me.
notified by: Gail M. Carpiniello
Legal Executive Assistant

Brown Rudnick LLP
One Financial Center
Boston, MA 02111
T: 617.856.8254
F: 617.289.0579
gcarpiniello@brownrudnick.com
www.brownrudnick.com

OPP police dog hit and killed by car in Wellington County

Guelph Mercury by Mercury staff

CENTRE WELLINGTON –An OPP police dog has died of its injuries after being struck by a car Thursday morning.

According to the police service, Dekker, a nine-year-old German shepherd, was struck after it ran into Side Road 11, in Centre Wellington Township, at about 7:15 a.m. The dog had been exercising on a field adjacent to the roadway when the incident unfolded. Neither the canine handler of the dog nor the driver of the vehicle were injured. The dog had served Wellington County for approximately seven years. Traffic was re-routed around the area for approximately an hour while OPP investigated the incident.

The investigation continues. editor@guelphmercury.com

State police mourn loss of beloved K-9 Drago worked for 8 years with Trooper Brian McKenna

Sheriff's Department says goodbye to K9 partner Deputy remembers dog as 'good friend'

OPP police dog hit and killed by car in Wellington County

State police mourn loss of beloved K-9
Drago worked for 8 years with Trooper Brian McKenna

Sheriff's Department says goodbye to K9 partner
Deputy remembers dog as 'good friend'