AKC CAR Donates Over $7,000 to Support the Ohio Search Dog Association
Raleigh, NC (April 28, 2009) – AKC Companion Animal Recovery recently awarded an AKC CAR Canine Support and Relief Fund grant to the Ohio Search Dog Association (OSDA) from Chagrin Falls, Ohio. OSDA serves all of the counties in the state of Ohio. It consists of eight teams with a total of ten dogs. Government agencies depend on the volunteer services of Ohio’s K9 search and rescue (SAR) organizations. Common needs in the community include searches involving K9 specialties, such as drowning victims, lost children and lost hunters or hikers to name a few. OSDA K9 teams were called out an average of once per month in the last 12 months. In addition to engaging in emergency operations, a key mission of OSDA is to educate law enforcement and emergency services in the appropriate use of K9 SAR teams. Plus, all team members make community education presentations.
The $7,138 grant will allow the Ohio Search Dog Association to host training seminars locally for all team members. By offering the courses locally, all members will be able to attend. The ten handlers and their dogs will be professionally trained in human remains detection for land and water as well as trained in area searches and trailing. The grant will allow a few handlers and their dogs to be certified in each training discipline.
“The approved training from this grant will bring a certified trainer to Ohio to help ensure that more K9 search and rescue teams can become certified, thereby increasing the emergency response capability throughout the state,” said Tom Sharp, Vice President and CEO of AKC Companion Animal Recovery.
About the AKC CAR Canine Support and Relief Fund
The AKC CAR Canine Support and Relief Fund was established as a permanent charitable fund with the goals of providing resources, support, funds, and other assistance to not-for-profit canine search and rescue organizations and K-9 units; not-for-profit veterinary units providing support to the canine rescue teams; and not-for-profit animal shelters and similar not-for-profit organizations providing care for domestic animals orphaned or displaced as a result of natural or civil disasters.
For more information on the AKC CAR Canine Support and Relief Fund, visit www.akccar.org or call 1-800-252-7894.