SEARCH DOG FOUNDATION
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Mission Statement
Our mission is to strengthen disaster response in America by rescuing and recruiting dogs and partnering them with firefighters and other first responders to find people buried alive in the wreckage of disasters.
About This Cause
Founded in 1996, the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF) is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization based in Ojai, CA. SDF is the only organization in the U.S. that recruits rescued dogs, gives them ongoing professional training, and partners them with firefighters and other first responders at no cost to their departments. SDF has trained hundreds of teams that have deployed to more than 200 disasters and missing person searches. There are currently 78 SDF-trained search teams located in California, Florida, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Baja California. Thanks to mutual aid agreements between states, these teams can be deployed nationwide wherever disasters occur. SDF’s ability to deliver highly trained teams at no cost to fire departments is critical as emergency response budgets are cut and resources are strained to the limit. Through our unique public/private partnership, SDF is able to provide a precious, lifesaving resource the fire departments could not otherwise afford. How did SDF Begin? SDF was founded by Wilma Melville, a retired schoolteacher. In 1995, Wilma and her FEMA-Certified Search Dog were deployed to the site of the Oklahoma City bombing. One survivor was found by a search dog, but it was clear that the country had a severe shortage of canine disaster search teams. Determined to do something about this alarming gap in our national disaster response network, Wilma founded the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation and designed a program based on the recruitment of rescued dogs and on a streamlined, professional training methodology. What were Wilma’s goals in founding the Search Dog Foundation? 1. Recruit rescued dogs, rather than buying or breeding dogs 2. Recruit highly skilled firefighters and other emergency personnel as handlers 3. Provide professional, ongoing training for both dog and handler 4. Offer these services at no cost to fire departments 5. Make a commitment to Lifetime Care for every dog accepted into the program Why do you need a search dog to find disaster victims? If you can’t find people, you can’t rescue them. No technology can match a dog’s speed and accuracy in finding people trapped in the wreckage of a disaster, thanks to its: 1. Remarkable sense of smell and ability to ignore all other scents and noises—even tempting traces of food or other animals or people involved in the search 2. Unparalleled ability to quickly and safely navigate unstable and slippery terrain—like a 4-wheel drive on paws! 3. Ability to negotiate these dangerous surfaces while keeping absolutely focused on the job at hand: saving a life 4. Ability to work off-leash and get to places humans cannot safely access