In 1996, a very special Golden Retriever came into my life. A friend had heard that I was looking for three dogs to start a program of placing professionally trained dogs with volunteer firefighters. “Go check out the local Humane Society,” she said. “There’s a very energetic, high-drive male Golden …
Teams: Dave Ramsay & Sandy, Tom Carney & GypsyMidway into a demolition project, a 100 x 20 foot concrete wall fell onto a residential street, killing a 48 year-old woman as she sat in her parked car. It was suspected that three workers were also missing and SDF teams were …
At 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, July 16th, an explosion occurred in a two-story home just outside Albany. A ten year-old girl was found alive, but two of her family members died tragically in the disaster. There were conflicting reports about the possibility of another victim unaccounted for, and New York’s Task Force …
This past April, the intensive training of our Bay Area teams was put to the test when a hillside collapsed upon the rear of a Mill Valley home. SDF-trained search teams Jim Boggeri & Recon (Marin County Fire) and SDF handler Teresa Ortenberger and her recovery dog, Rose, were called into action.Heavy …
At 11:00 a.m. on the morning of May 6th, a Search Dog Foundation canine-firefighter team was called into action when the construction frame of a highrise hotel-condo collapsed in Bal Harbour, near Miami, sending a three-foot layer of drying concrete onto workers and trapping them beneath the debris.Thanks to your …
From Wilma Melville, SDF Founder:The third most intense hurricane on record, Hurricane Rita is now on a rampage across the Gulf of Mexico.No sooner had SDF’s canine-firefighter search teams returned home from their deployment to Hurricane Katrina (their gear still in route), than they were once again called out by …
Katrina deployment update 9/16/05We are happy and grateful to report that the following SDF search teams have safely returned home from their deployment to the Gulf States—from California (Bay Area, Sacramento, and Santa Barbara/Ventura), Florida (Coral Gables, Miami Springs, Temple Terrace), and Ohio (Bellbrook).We send our best wishes for a …
Laguna Beach Landslide: Marc & Val RespondIncident Report from Marc Valentine, SDF handler, Montebello Fire Dept.On Wednesday, June 1, 2005, a large part of Bluebird Canyon in Laguna Beach let go and started to slide downhill. All told, 22 homes were red-tagged and another 30 were yellow-tagged.At about 12:30 p.m., …
Canine Teams in Search of Survivors at the Site of Los Angeles Train DerailmentReport by Su Vodrazka SDF Canine Handler and L.A. Country Sheriff’s Department Deputy On January 26, 2005, at 6:10 a.m., Los Angeles residents awoke to the terrible news of a disaster not far from home. Two Metrolink …
A true hero was memorialized on Saturday, January 29, 2005, among a devoted group of firefighters and their canine partners. Harry, one of SDF’s most beloved Search Dogs, had died quietly and unexpectedly in his sleep a few days earlier. According to Harry’s veterinarian, his heart just stopped—like a top …
