Eva was bred and raised by Southern California resident and canine enthusiast Heather Smith. Over the years, Heather has turned her interest in the natural capabilities of a dog into a passion for agility and tracking training, among other hobbies. In late 2014, due to physical constraints, Heather reached out to SDF when she was looking for a new home for her two Belgian Malinois, Eva and her littermate Brio. Unfortunately, Brio did not have every characteristic we look for when seeking canine candidates for our program, but Eva was incredible during the evaluation process. Heather donated Eva to the program and Eva began training almost immediately.
Eva progressed well through SDF’s training program. The trainers could say nothing but good things about her every step of the way. Bold and athletic, Eva was quick to learn and graceful on rubble. On January 22, 2016, Eva graduated when she was partnered with Captain Manny Sampang of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Since being paired, Manny and Eva spend all of their time together. Eva was warmly welcomed to Manny’s home after meeting his wife and their three children, and the team has been building the bond crucial to a great search team.
Manny and Eva trained daily in preparation for their Certification Evaluation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The team achieved Certification in Castaic, CA, on September 17, 2016, and are now eligible to deploy with California Task Force 2 (CA-TF2), based in Los Angeles. As an international task force, they may respond to aid civilians anywhere that disaster may strike in the world.
Their first call to duty occurred on December 17, 2016, when, tragically, a eucalyptus tree collapsed on a wedding party celebrating in a Whittier park, killing one person and injuring seven others. The tree measured 80’ tall and may have fallen due to the drought Southern California had experienced for several years. Two canine teams deployed to search the small area to make sure no one else was trapped before recovery crews could go in and begin to clean up. Luckily, no one else suffered additional injuries.
The following year, when a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Mexico City, USA-2 (aka CA-TF2 when deploying domestically) deployed to Mexico on a 10-day lifesaving mission. Five SDF-trained teams from Los Angeles County Fire joined forces with our two teams from Tijuana to search for people who might be trapped alive. It was an enormous task and the teams made us very proud!
Then on the night of January 8, 2018, an enormous mudslide ripped through the usually quiet neighborhood of Montecito. Several factors, including the recent Thomas Fire and heavy rains, created a deadly situation for residents. By the 10th, because of the sheer amount of destruction, eighteen SDF-trained canine teams were in Montecito, the most that had ever been sent to a single location. Manny and Eva spent a week combing what remained of people’s homes until most citizens were accounted for and the search was called off. Manny said that Eva did an incredible job and he was very proud of her performance.
On March 2, 2019, the team achieved FEMA Re-Certification in order to retain their active deployment status with CA-TF2. They were able to mobilize throughout the summer, deploying to:
- June 26 – Missing Person Search – Mt. Waterman, CA
- July 16 – Building Collapse – Gardena, CA
- July 16 – Vehicle Crash – Diamond Bar, CA
In 2024, Eva officially retired from her task force and now enjoys her retirement at home with Manny and his family.