Thank you to Kroger on Boonville Road for the cake!

Search Dog Network is celebrating our 16th birthday this month!

Search Dog Network originally started in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1996. The Team’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer was Dave Bartel, a retired El Paso County Deputy, Canine Handler and County Search & Rescue Coordinator.

In 1997 the Team established a Chapter in Bryan/College Station to meet the needs of the Brazos Valley. In 1998, while searching for a lost mushroom collector in the mountains of Colorado, Dave died of a heart attack. After about a year the Team in Colorado dissolved and the Team management moved to Texas.

Search Dog Network’s mission is to Train, Certify, and Deploy professional Search Teams to locate lost and missing persons.

Since 1997 we have deployed Teams on 93 missions, fielding 180 search teams. The Teams have included Canine Wilderness Air Scent, Canine Human Remains Detection, Canine Disaster Search, Canine Water Search as well as Ground Teams and a boat with Side Scan Sonar for Water Recovery.

Our strength comes from the dedication of our Team Members; we currently have trained 18 trained Volunteers and 8 certified Canines. In addition to our members we are able to call on our mutual aid agreements with other professional Teams in Texas including:

• Alamo Area Search & Rescue in San Antonio
• Travis County Search & Rescue in Austin
• Search One Rescue Team in Dallas
• Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department’s Rescue Team in Cy-Fair

In addition our Team gains experience by working with:

• Brazos Valley Child Abduction Response Team
• Brazos Valley Search & Rescue

Our “Birthday” present is an Operations Trailer that will allow us to better manage search operations and planning and better support the Teams in the field.

Newest team acquisition: Humminbird 1198c Sonar

SDN Team members training on the sonar at Lake Bryan

Thanks to a grant from the American Kennel Club, Search Dog Network was able to purchase a Humminbird 1198c Sonar unit. The team has been training on it since its receipt in May, 2012. This unit is a side-scan sonar that allows the user to view objects under the water to the sides of the boat. Also, it tells the user the water depth, boat speed, GPS coordinate, as well as other information. Members are training on it on a regular basis to increase proficiency.

This sonar unit is an important addition to SDN missions due to the number of water recovery missions for which we’re deployed. A water recovery canine is useful for narrowing down the search area in a big lake. The sonar can narrow this larger area down to a smaller area, so divers don’t have to search such a large area. This greatly increases diver safety.

Image from the sonar

SDN members Cindy Grant and Mary Haislet, both Human Remains Detection Dog Handlers, took the opportunity to attend a Cadaver Dog Training Workshop March 2-4, 2012 offered by the Western Carolina University (WCU) Human Identification Lab and the Forensic Anthropology Program in Cullowhee, NC. They also attended a two day workshop on Basic Field Recovery and Bone Identification Feb. 29-March 1 offered by professors at WCU.  The Cadaver Dog workshop instructors were Lisa Higgins, Brad Dennis, and Paul S. Martin.

Cindy, Mary and their canines were able to work search areas including grassy fields, mountainous terrain, urban environments, buildings, and vehicle lineups. They were able to expose their dogs to full body decomposition in the Forensic Osteology Research Station (FOREST). Classroom instruction included the human decomposition process, bone identification, forensic taphonomy, and much more. The Bone identification instructors were John Schweikart and Cheryl A. Johnston, Ph.D.

This workshop offered an incredible opportunity to train with canines on full body decomposition. Western Carolina University is the only research facility doing research using donated bodies that generously opens its doors to Human Remains Detections K-9 teams. The workshop filled up in less than 10 minutes after opening its registration on line, and it was well worth the cost and travel time. If anyone signs up for future workshops, offered in a basic and advanced level, Cindy and Mary suggest you sign up the second registration opens and if you don’t type fast—find someone who does! Here is the following link for more information:
http://www.wcu.edu/28710.asp

Special thanks to the following for making this seminar possible:

Western Carolina University and Dept. of Anthropology
David O. Belcher, Chancellor WCU
John Williams, Director of Forensic Anthropology
Bobby Hensley, Associate Director of Continuing Education
John Schweikart
Cheryl A. Johnston, Ph.D
Steven Yates and other students that assisted
Cadaver Dog Instructors
Lisa Higgins, Louisiana Search and Rescue
Brad Dennis, Director of Search Operations for Klaas KIDS Foundation
Paul S. Martin, WCU Graduate