Kennel Club grant to aid search and rescue

Pictured, from left, are Kelly Marshall and K-9 Brutus; Lisa Altman and K-9 Grace; Pam Bennett and K-9 T.C.; Grafton Fire Chief John “Casey” Jones; and Beckie Stanevich with K-9 Juno.

GRAFTON -- The K-9 Search Unit of the Grafton Volunteer Fire Department (GVFD), has received a grant from the American Kennel Club Companion Animal Recovery Canine Support and Relief Fund (AKC CAR).  AKC CAR is an affiliate of the American Kennel Club® and the nation’s largest not-for-profit pet identification and 24/7 recovery service provider. 

After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the AKC CAR mission expanded to support animals in need. In early 2002, the AKC CAR Canine Support and Relief Fund was created as a permanent charitable fund to proactively support the needs of volunteer Canine Search and Rescue Organizations, plus, provide our nation’s pets with life saving disaster relief resources during hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and wildfires.

Search dogs in the Grafton Volunteer Fire Department must be trained and certified prior to searching for missing people.  The goal of the unit is to have all dogs certified by a nationally recognized certification organization. The grant was requested because it is very expensive to train and certify search dogs. 

The handlers often have to take their dogs out of town to train and for certification.

The grant will support Lisa Higgins, a renowned canine search and rescue handler, especially in the field of forensics. 

She will travel from Louisiana to train and test our members for a week during the late summer.  This intensive training should prepare all of the GVFD Search and Rescue dogs and handlers for additional certifications later in the year.

K-9 Unit members are: Pam Bennett with certified K-9s Cynder, TC, Trax, and Ayla, who is in training; Beckie Stanevich with certified K-9s Juno, Rascal, and Mecca, who is in training; Kelly Marshall, with Brutus, who is in training; and Lisa Altman with Gracie, who is in training.



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