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Show ' - f ''Iff Will f - , r Nv '! V"' , i-v 1 I u.-: A I W KV A M';- i'.'M ,v Max Olson, who plays hide and seek with his dad's dog at home, is glad to help out the members of the Davis County Search and Rescue team. Vicki King is the trainer of both MacKenna ana-Andy ana-Andy Bill Jensen of the Davis County Sheriff's Department displays the proud Cookie. Alan : Olson (Max's dad) held the not-at-all-camera-shy Anna. Anna wanted to edge out the other dogs and sit directly in front of the camera, but obeyed when Olson gave the command to "stay." Dick Epley is the team leader for the group on the search and rescue team, a member of American Search Dogs, Inc., and the delighted trainer of Ollie. Dog-gone great helpers for search and rescue By JAMS STUART FARMINGTON-Six members of the Davis County Search and Rescue team have been trained to ride ski lifts, jump into hovering helicopters, not fear the sound and size of heavy machinery and to obey voice and hand commands. These feats are even more impressive im-pressive because these six search and rescue members are all dogs; not homely people, but actual canines. The five trainers of these dogs are volunteer workers on the Davis County Search and Rescue team. These volunteers, along with several others on the team, do not receive payment for their services. In fact, they pay dues to belong. The trainers of these six dogs are Alan Olson, trainer of Anna; Vicki King, trainer of MacKenna and Andy; Dick Epley, team leader, and trainer of Ollie, and Bill Jensen of the Davis County Sheriff's Office, trainer of Cookie. Chief Harry Jones of the Davis County Sheriffs Department has been emphatic about the benefits the search and rescue members bring br-ing to the Davis County Sheriffs Department He has appreciated the various talents and great dedication these volunteers offer to the com-munity. com-munity. Search and rescue volunteers have worked with the Davis County Sheriffs Department for some time, but the addition of search and rescue res-cue dogs took place only a few months ago. Jones has not only been vocal about his appreciation for the addition of the search and rescue dogs to the team, but has even ilplayed victim," thus allowing allow-ing the dogs to practice rescuing him. Jones and Chief Deputy K.D. Simpson have been aware of the successes search and rescue dogs have had in private organizations. Simpson said, "Chief Jones has put a lot of effort into developing the new program. Because of this, citizens of Davis County benefit from the great service they provide." pro-vide." Cookie was recently involved in a case with Utah Fish and Game representatives in the south Weber area. It was suspected that two youths had been involved in an arson incident. inci-dent. Cookie was taken to the homes of the boys. After smelling the individuals, Cookie went to the crime scene. Cookie headed directly direct-ly to a propane torch which was retrieved and tested for ringer prints. The prints found on the torch matched those of the youths. Officers Offi-cers were able to successfully solve the case. With the capability of smelling three particles per trillion parts of air, these search and rescue dogs have proved to be extremely valuable in finding drowning vie- tims. The dogs can actually ride in a boat over the water and locate victims vic-tims below. Ollie, located a drowning victim buried by 35 feet of water. Anna may hold the world' s record for depth in finding victims in water. She located a body that had submerged 15 months earlier. The depth of the water was approximately approx-imately 115-118 feet. MacKenna was demonstrating expertise during a mock disaster. MacKenna was able to march right in and find the three "victims' within one minute. Search and rescue dogs have been trained to repel mountains in a sling, spend long, controlled hours in a vehicle and climb ladders. Training, however, also includes learning not to attack. Jensen stated, "These dogs won't bite. They may lick someone to death, but they won't bite." In an actual rescue attempt, Cookie proved how effective training train-ing had been. A scout master had been lost in the Uintahs for 4 days. When the dog approached, the scout master believed he was a wild dog and armed himself with a stick. Fortunately, For-tunately, Cookie did not attack but brought rescuers to the site instead. Jensen explained, Training these dogs is a great family affair. ' ' His son James, 16, is involved in teaching Isabelle, a lab, the arts of socialization, hand signals and search sear-ch and rescue methods. These dogs have been trained to search an avalanche area the size of a football field in 20 minutes. It would take 20 people with poles four or five hours to cover the same area, saving valuable time which can mean saving lives. Chief Jones has made it possible for the people of Davis County to have these animals available to them in times of need. They are a terrific asset to residents at no cost to them. |