Dogs once on kill lists now Harvey heroes
Rocket, an energetic mutt once slated for euthanasia, has spent the past few days aiding search-and-rescue efforts in Texas after Hurricane Harvey devastated the Gulf Coast. He's not alone.
The black-and-white mutt with freckles on his snout is one of three dogs saved from the needle who are now helping humans still suffering from the historic storm.
They're working alongside 11 other rescued dogs --those pups' fates weren't as dire -- trained by the Search Dog Foundation. The nonprofit organization seeks out dogs on kill lists for unwanted behaviors.
You see, while Rocket's obsessiveness got the border collie mix on the kill list back in 2012 in Sacramento, with the right training that energy can be the perfect attribute for a search-and-rescue dog.
"To them it's a big game," said Denise Sanders, communication officer for the Search Dog Foundation based in Southern California. On Sunday, the 14 dogs were deployed to Texas on urban canine disaster search teams from around California.
At first Rocket didn't pass rescue testing, but a foundation volunteer adopted him and re-tested him a year later. That time he passed and started training to be a search dog. Rocket was paired with a firefighter, Mike Stornetta from Windsor, California, in 2014. Their first rescue mission together was after a plane crash in Northern California in 2016.
Other dogs sent to Houston include Jester, who as a puppy was slated for euthanasia after his owner gave him up for constantly jumping the fence. He's now a FEMA-certified search dog out of Orange County, California. There's also Java, a plott hound mix, saved from a kill shelter. After six months in search dog boot camp she was partnered with a firefighter in Los Angeles in 2012.
The deployment roster is full of other heartwarming stories about training unwanted dogs for an important purpose. Like the foundation says, "from rescued...to rescuer."
Such good dogs! 13/10 for all.
Topics Animals Social Good
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
