Supporting Search and Rescue Dogs

Search and rescue dogs play an important part in national disaster relief efforts. These SAR dogs play a critical role in helping firefighters to help find people caught in the wake of a disaster who may be buried alive. These first responders, including the search dogs, can make the difference between life and death for disaster victims.

Dogs to the rescue for hurricane Sandy victims!

The SDF Task Force teams are on the ground, as The Examiner writes, helping to find stranded people in the wake of Hurricane Sandy along the east coast. For all the latest updates, please visit the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation on Facebook!

And, as the Search Dog teams are working to find the humans, the Humane Society is working tirelessly to help out stranded pets. For all the news on the HSUS rescue efforts and to learn how you can help, please visit the HSUS Facebook page.

One organization, the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation, is responsible for providing professionally trained search and rescue dogs at no cost to fire departments throughout the country, as well as offering an ongoing search and rescue dog training program. In total, there are over 70 Search Dog Foundation teams in regions from coast to coast, including California, Utah, Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Florida, and New York, all strategically placed so the trained teams and resources can be shared within regional areas and throughout the nation.

Beginning in 1998, Nutro supported this unique and valuable organization by providing their Natural Choice dog food for the foundation’s SAR dogs. However, Nutro has further extended their support of the SDF by pledging to donate one million dollars to the Search Dog Foundation through the year 2016.

Before the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation began in 1996, only 15% of dogs recruited for the FEMA certification as search and rescue dogs were successfully trained. The Foundation has increased their success rate for fully trained dogs to 85%. Most of the search dogs recruited for use in the SDF program are rescued from abusive situations or were abandoned. Even the 15% of dogs that do not successfully complete the search dog training program or those that cannot remain with their handlers, SDF promises to provide a loving Lifetime Care home to all rescued dogs.

The Nutro Company is the exclusive pet food partner of this life-saving organization and provides the search dogs' food while on the job, at work, during training, and at the site of a disaster. They also offer vouchers to the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation to distribute to other FEMA search dog teams.

With the cost of recruitment, care, support, training, and placement costing the Foundation $10,000 to $15,000 per dog, and with plans to recruit and train 19 more teams this year alone, Nutro’s generous commitment to provide one million dollars through 2016 is a welcome support. To learn more about how you can support this vital organization’s efforts, please visit The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation website.

This post was written by a Nutro Knowledge Network Member and sponsored by the Nutro Company.

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