German Shepherd Maverick was born in New Mexico on July 23, 2002. His owner, Karen, thought he would make a great search and rescue dog because he was energetic, bold, and determined. Karen donated this high-energy canine to the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF).
Upon his arrival at SDF, Maverick was sent to the prep home of Bob and Peggy Seay in Ventura, California, due to his young age. There, Maverick received some basic obedience training and socialization skills from these experienced SDF volunteers. While Maverick was at the Seay’s house, they discovered he was a real go-getter and never took NO for an answer when it came time to play. When Peggy wanted to sit down to use the computer, she would find Maverick lying in her chair, wanting to go play.
All SDF canine candidates needed to be at least nine months old before they are evaluated, so when he was old enough, Maverick was tested and demonstrated all the required skills to do this job well. Next, it was time for Maverick to begin his formal search dog training at Sundowners Kennels in Gilroy, CA. Besides the characteristics of a good search dog, trainers found Maverick was also a very loving boy and shared that with everyone he met. Maverick was always ready to make new friends.
At Sundowners, the Lead Trainer Pluis Davern and her staff found that Maverick achieved each new level of training with style and a great attitude. Eventually, Maverick was paired with his first handler, a firefighter from Miami, Florida, but due to the time commitment involved, this handler was not able to continue on with Maverick. Upon returning to California for a refresher course, Maverick excelled and graduated with his new partner, Jason Vasquez, of the Los Angeles County Fire Department in August 2007. Jason and Maverick quickly progressed and became FEMA Certified in November of 2007.
After achieving Certification, Jason and Maverick continued to train daily to hone their skills as an Urban Disaster Search and Rescue team, and they put those skills to use when they were deployed with California Task Force 2 (CA-TF2), one of two internationally deployable FEMA Task Forces in the United States. During his career, Maverick deployed to the following major events:
- Mudslide – Mill Valley, CA – April 2006
- Hurricane Ike – Galveston, TX – September 2008
- Hurricane Gustav – Louisiana – September 2008
- Earthquake – Port-au-Prince, Haiti – January 2010
In Port-Au-Prince, the Los Angeles County Task Force helped bring 12 survivors to safety, the largest number of finds they had ever had. The teams returned home heroes and received service medals for the lives they had helped save.
At nearly 9 years of age, in July 2011, Jason made the difficult decision to retire Maverick, who could not traverse rubble as easily as he had in his younger years. To ensure Maverick’s safety and the integrity of CA-TF2, should they be sent on another long deployment, Jason brought Maverick home with him as a pet for the first time.
Maverick lived out his retirement years comfortably with the Vasquez family in Los Angeles. In August 2014, after celebrating his twelfth birthday, Jason took Maverick to see a veterinarian after becoming concerned that his partner was declining. Tests identified a large tumor on Maverick’s heart, and there was nothing more that could be done. Jason and his family made the heartbreaking decision to say goodbye to their beloved family member, and Maverick crossed the Rainbow Bridge on August 23, 2014.
Maverick touched the lives of everyone he met and is missed tremendously. He leaves behind him the legacy of a sterling career and large paws to fill.