Cajun (originally named Rex) was donated to SDF’s urban disaster search and rescue training program by Elise Lalor, a dog enthusiast and canine handler on California Task Force 4, based in Oakland. In her line of work, Elise regularly encounters people looking for help to find their family just the right dog, or a dog just the right place in life.
Elise explained how she came to meet this fun guy, “We got Rex when he was about six months old. Rex is from a field lines breeder, and the family who got him are an active family with four children. Rex proved to be too much dog for their household and was a bit too rough with the kids. They connected with us, and we agreed to take him and try to find him a working home.” When Rex came of age a few months later, Elise knew just who to call to begin a formal training program.
SDF’s head trainer at the time, Sonja Heritage, evaluated Rex and agreed that he showed a tremendous amount of promise. He was re-named “Cajun” in honor of long-time SDF supporter Hank Butler-Funk, who was the Guardian of Search Dog Huck, and Cajun began his journey as a canine candidate in training.
Months later, on January 22, 2016, Cajun was partnered with firefighter Josh Flores of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
Training regularly, the team achieved certification with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in June 2016. As members of California Task Force 2 (CA-TF2) based in Los Angeles, the team is eligible to deploy when disasters occur – foreign or domestic.
On January 22, 2017, Josh and Cajun were placed on standby to deploy with their task force due to heavy storms that pounded the Los Angeles area. The heavy rainfall threatened flooding and mudslides, and the Los Angeles County Fire Department was prepared should they be called upon. Thankfully, there were no incidents of missing people and Cajun did not need to conduct any searches.
Then on January 9, 2018, mudslides devastated the coastal community of Montecito, CA, where the Thomas Fire had swept through nearby hills a month before. The slide cut through the small community in the middle of the night while most were sleeping, and many residents went missing. Josh and Cajun searched for two weeks, along with seventeen SDF-trained canine teams from across California, until nearly every citizen was accounted for. In total, 163 people were hospitalized with injuries, 21 lost their lives, and two were never recovered and remain missing to this day.
On December 2, 2018, Josh and Cajun were recertified in Staten Island, NY, at a FEMA Certification Evaluation hosted by NY-TF1 at the New York City Department of Sanitation’s facility. Recertification allowed the duo to remain internationally deployable for another three years with CA-TF2.
In November of 2022, Cajun was diagnosed with cancer and medically retired. With surgery and chemotherapy, Cajun was able to spend more time with his best friend. They enjoyed a retirement party thrown by teammates at Los Angeles County Fire where Cajun got to eat some eat and “search” for Josh one last time in an official capacity. Josh’s baseball team named themselves the Ragin’ Cajuns and Cajun was their mascot at every game, even sporting his own jersey.
At 11 years of age, Cajun peacefully crossed the Rainbow Bridge on July 5, 2024. We are grateful to Cajun and Josh for their service to the citizens of California. Cajun’s life will be honored at SDF’s Canine Memorial Wall.