When called upon, these dedicated Search and Rescue K9 Teams are dispatched to find lost or missing people. The search they are called to can be a matter of life or death, which is why they train so hard to prepare for those moments. Over the course of three days Search and Rescue K9’s from across the Pacific Northwest converged on Mildred Kanipe Memorial Park to participate in training organized by Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue volunteers. The sessions began on Friday, April 27th and concluded on Sunday, April 29, 2018. The focus of the training was night searches, air scent, trailing, the location of human remains scent and networking. Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Manager Wayne Stinson said, “Many times these teams never get the opportunity to work together until they are called to a large scale search.” He went on to say “It was determined it is best to have some degree of each team’s strengths and weaknesses prior to an actual search environment.” There were approximately 65 K9 search teams and support personnel representing sixteen different counties and three states that participated. Jackson County K9 team leader Eric Ronemus said, “I thoroughly enjoyed the variety of problems designed to challenge both ends of the lead.” Five K9 teams received their state certification at the event.
