During a road trip throughout the Midwest, SDF Canine Recruiter Tim Matthews, of the South Dakota Canine Center, walked into the Humane Society of the South Platte Valley located in Littleton, CO where the receptionist immediately recognized Tim and said, “We have a Search Dog for you!”
Billy, originally named Bora, was picked up as a stray and tested beautifully when Tim evaluated him at the shelter. The two traveled back to South Dakota together and Billy proved to be a sweet and engaging pup. Tim’s wife, Kellee, also a canine recruiter, flew to California with Billy in February of 2014 so he could be officially evaluated by SDF trainers at the National Training Center. Upon his arrival, SDF lead trainer at the time, Sonja Heritage, saw great potential in this little curly-tailed Black Lab mix, and he was formally accepted as a Search Dog candidate.
During his training, SDF’s training team reported week after week how he was excelling by leaps and bounds. SDF trainer Emily Fisk shared, “He just flies over the rubble! He is extremely agile and quick, he barks nice and strong in the rubble for the victim. He is such an amazingly focused and drivey dog, nothing phases him! He brings his love of the search game to work with him every day.”
On November 14th, 2014, Billy was partnered with veteran SDF Handler Patti Krafft, a Lieutenant with Dallas Fire-Rescue and member of Texas Task Force 2 (TX-TF2).
Billy and Patti achieved State Certification in Salina, Kansas, in April 2015 and continued to train weekly with their teammates in preparation for deployment to disasters zones in Texas and neighboring states.
The team did not have to wait long before being called upon to a disaster area. On May 19, 2015, Billy and Patti were called to their first deployment when a tornado struck Runaway Bay, Texas. The team was responsible for searching two story apartment buildings with significant damage in order to ensure that no one was trapped inside.
Then on October 23, 2015, several canine teams on Texas Task Force 2 responded when the additional weight of rainfall caused a rooftop swimming pool caused to collapse to the bottom of the seven story parking structure it sat on. Billy, Patti and teammates searched floors of concrete, vehicles and debris in search of possible victims. Fortunately, no one had been in the structure when it went down and, thanks to the canines, the city manager was able send in recovery crews to begin clean-up operations pretty quickly.
As tornado season began in the spring on 2017, Billy and Patti joined their TX-TF2 teammates, 70 task force members in total including four canine handlers, in anticipation of severe weather on April 2. The task force prepared for the worst in the southern states but thankfully the storms passed causing little damage and no loss of life.
The team then deployed on the following missions:
- April 29, 2017 – Tornado – Canton, TX
- August 25, 2017 – Hurricane Harvey – Gulf States
- June 8, 2018 – Building Collapse – Dallas, TX
- June 9, 2019 – Building Collapse – Dallas, TX
- October 20, 2019 – Tornado – Dallas, TX
- May 22, 2020 – Tornado Pre-staging – Montague County, TX
The team’s final deployment occurred one year later in August of 2020, when Hurricane Laura affected Texas and Louisiana. Patti & Billy spent four days searching for missing citizens and helping bring closure to affected families.
We are incredibly grateful to Patti and Billy for their service to the local community and the nation! Patti retired from Dallas Fire-Rescue and the task force on March 1, 2023. They relocated to Patti’s home state of Oklahoma where Billy enjoyed running in wide open spaces and playing his favorite games.
Sadly, not long after a cancer diagnosis, Billy crossed the Rainbow Bridge on January 26th, 2024, shortly before his twelfth birthday. Patti was there with him and thanked him for all of us for his big heart and unfailing service.
SDF will honor Billy at our Canine Memorial Wall in Santa Paula so that his memory will live on for many years to come.