In late 2008, Stella, a powerful female Black Labrador Retriever, came to Sundowners Kennels in Gilroy, CA for obedience training. Her owner, Kerry Holden, needed help learning to handle this rambunctious and rowdy girl. SDF’s Search Dogs were all trained at Sundowners and this was surely the best place to teach Stella manners.
Shortly after Stella’s arrival at Sundowners, SDF’s trainers began to see signs that this girl might just have potential for a career as an urban disaster search and rescue canine. With permission from Kerry, Sundowners trainers Pluis Davern, Kate Davern and Sharon Hanzelka ran Stella through a battery of tests to see if she truly was a candidate for the program.
They were happy to report that Stella possessed all the characteristics of a
Search Dog and Kerry generously agreed to let her follow that path. So, by November, Stella’s training began two-fold. Not only would she get the obedience she needed, but she would also learn the ins and outs of search and rescue work.
In March of 2009, Stella graduated from training and was paired with Handler Matthew Kirk of Heartland Fire-Rescue near San Diego, CA. The team trained daily as members of California Task Force 8 (CA-TF8) and achieved Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Certification on June 13, 2010. FEMA Certification allows a team deployment eligibility with their task force anywhere in the United States when disaster strikes.
In accordance with FEMA regulations, which require teams to re-certify every three years, Matthew and Stella traveled to Virginia Beach, VA in June of 2013 and passed with flying colors. They did it again in Riverside, CA in April of 2016!
Then in May of 2017, Matthew was startled when Stella was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in her jaw. Thankfully, veterinarians believed they could save her life – and career – but had to remove a portion of the jaw. The operation was performed and after significant healing time, Stella was able to rejoin the ranks of her CA-TF8 teammates!
After many years of training in anticipation of the need to serve American citizens, Matthew and Stella were sent on their first deployment in September of 2017, when Hurricane Irma struck Florida and the Virgin Islands during a particularly horrific hurricane season. CA-TF8 joined forces with multiple FEMA task forces from around the country, as well as agencies more local to the Florida area, in order to help rescue citizens from severely flooded neighborhoods and damaged buildings. After a week-long mission, members of CA-TF8 were sent home to their own families.
Then on January 9, 2018, mudslides devastated the coastal community of Montecito, CA, two hundred miles north of San Diego. As the slide occurred in the middle of the night while most were sleeping, many people were missing and feared trapped within their homes or deceased. The state’s Office of Emergency Services sprang into action and Matthew and Stella were deployed with certain CA-TF8 teammates as a part of what is called a Mission Ready Package. It is a rescue response and recovery resource bundled for a specific disaster, which means it will often be smaller than a full task force and only contain the components of the task force needed to achieve a particular mission. Matthew and Stella joined seventeen SDF-trained canine teams from across California, who had all been sent to the small city to find and rescue as many people as possible. They searched for nearly two weeks, until nearly every citizen was accounted for. In total, 163 people were hospitalized with injuries, 21 lost their lives, and 2 were never recovered and remain missing to this day.
Several iconic photos of Matthew and Stella were captured throughout their deployment to Montecito. What made them special was the bond you could clearly see the two shared. The career of a first responder can take a physical and emotional toll, and those who returned from Montecito talked about it being a particularly difficult mission. Matthew said that Stella was not just good at her job during their time on this deployment, but played an important role of keeping up the morale of their teammates.
The team returned home with lessons learned that they would be able to share with several new canine Handlers who joined CA-TF8 in 2017 and 2018.
Sadly, one year after their deployment to Montecito, Stella’s cancer returned and this time it was incurable. At the age of 11, Matthew made the heartbreaking decision to select a date to say goodbye to his canine partner. In her last few days, Stella enjoyed a final visit to the beach, hamburgers, and quality time with the Kirk family.
On January 26, 2019, Stella crossed the Rainbow Bridge in her family home with Matthew and loved ones surrounding her. She was then draped in the American flag and, as she was carried out of the house, was given a hero’s salute by her CA-TF8 teammates.
Words cannot express enough our appreciation for Stella and the service she provided the nation. Of course, to Stella, she was just enjoying the Search game with Matthew. But to all of us, she was a treasure, and we are grateful for the time we were allowed to spend with her. Thank you, Stella.