Sarasota will honor memory of longtime police dog

Sarasota Police will pause on Tuesday to honor Coti, a retired department police dog who served from 2014 to 2021.

The 12-year-old German shepherd who worked with Officer Nick Dominis died Sunday.

To honor Coti’s work with the city, Dominis and the K-9 Unit will provide Coti with a final ride past Sarasota Police headquarters at 2:15 p.m. Tuesday in the Chevrolet Tahoe patrol vehicle the two shared throughout their time together.

Members of the community are invited to join the salute along Adams Lane.

Coti joined Dominis in 2014 after completing K-9 school. During his career, Coti’s duties included patrol operations, tracking, article and building searches, handler protection and apprehension work. He also worked alongside the Sarasota Police SWAT team and provided mutual aid to neighboring law enforcement agencies.

Coti medically retired from police work in 2021.

“His service and legacy will not be forgotten,’’ a statement from Sarasota Police said.

In 2016, the Observer profiled Dominis and Coti as part of a feature story on working dogs in Sarasota on National Dog Day. In it, we published this:

“At home, Coti lives with two boxers named Mako and Bella. While the other two get riled up when the mail carrier visits, Dominis says Coti pays no attention to the visitor.

“As soon as I put my uniform on, he starts pacing by my back door and gets excited,” said Dominis. “He knows that he gets to sit in the car and ride around with me for 10 hours.”