9/11, search and rescue, and shelter dogs as heroes

from Editor's Notepad - The news blog for dogs and their people

by Leslie Smith

on Wednesday September 7th, 2011 at 06:39 PM - View Original

Harley with handler Rob Cima at Ground Zero

Sunday marks the 10^th anniversary of the September 11^th attacks. Across the nation, ceremonies are planned to remember loved ones lost and to honor individuals who acted so incredibly heroically in the hours and days following the tragedy.

Thirteen of those heroes came from the Search Dog Foundation (SDF) in Ojai, California. Search dogs are invaluable in such missions, as their powerful sense of smell can lead rescue workers directly to trapped or immobilized victims. The World Trade Center site was still smoldering when SDF Retriever Harley and his handler, Rob Cima, arrived. The two worked as part of a team covering “100 square blocks from Ground Zero, with debris piled eleven stories high.”

If you think SDF dogs are highly trained, intelligent, and focused, you’re correct. But if you think they were born and bred into such a role, you’re mistaken. Wilma Melville founded SDF in 1996, and the dogs in her program are recruited from shelters around the country. They’re matched with handlers from participating fire departments and trained to perform vital tasks outside the capacity of the human nose.

These “throw-away” animals — once abandoned and unwanted — are now part of life-saving search and rescue teams. They’ve proven their indispensability not only in 9/11 efforts, but in Haiti and Japan and with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. And true to its aim, Melville’s foundation has been saving lives without breeding or adding to the current population of animals. According to Janet Reineck, director of development for SDF, "Many of [the recruited dogs] are 24 hours away from euthanasia.”

We’re not the only ones impressed with Wilma Melville’s values and dedication. She’s currently among the list of CNN heroes, eligible to become Hero of the Year for 2012. Look for CNN’s announcement at noon ET, September 22, and information on how you can vote.

Meanwhie, from the SDF Mission Statement:

“We ensure lifetime care for every dog in our program:once rescued, these dogs never need to be rescued again.”

Search Dog Foundation founder Wilma Melville with Dusty

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	Amen Sandy. The point of the article is that you don't have to breed dogs thereby adding more to the population. You can do this stuff with dogs who already exist AND save lives while you're doing it. when there are no more shelter dogs dying, then we'll talk about breeding again. 8 months ago by tam
	Keeslover, that is not true. Look at her website, yes, there are lab/mixes but there are a variety of other dogs too. Certain organizations breeds and raise dogs into search and rescue which is wonderful too, but not her mission. Every dog was bred for something at some point in time, even mixes. She is adapting them - as adults. Don't take away from that. I see dozens of dogs die every day in shelters. What she is doing is unbelievable. 8 months ago by Sandy
	The Search Dog Foundation does wonderful work but the dogs that you portray are obviously either purebred or mainly Labrador Retriever or Golden Retriever. These breeds have been selected for scores of generation for their working and scenting ability. Breeding does count. 9 months ago by keeslover
	Thank you so much for sharing this, and so aptly putting that these "throw aways" made a difference, and there are more like them in shelters today who can become great therapy animals, ect... 9 months ago by Evelyn