SNIFFING OUT NEW DIGS FOR SEARCH DOGS FOUNDATION WANTS A HOME IN SOCAL.

Byline: Eric Leach Staff Writer

OJAI - The Search Dog Foundation established by a retired teacher has provided free, highly trained dogs for 10 years to rescuers across the nation, but the group is now searching for a new home of its own.

Although it has been based since 1996 in Ojai, it trains dogs in the Northern California town of Gilroy and needs a new site in Southern California.

``The majority of the foundation dogs are in Southern California,'' said Deresa Teller of Simi Valley, the owner of Bella, a border collie who was inducted into the California Veterinary Medical Association Hall of Fame.

``We all put in time going up to Gilroy. If we had a center in Southern California we could come together more often and do more training for ourselves and the dogs.''

Foundation officials say a new center in the south would consolidate administrative and training facilities, saving money and time for dog handlers such as Teller, many of whom are firefighters.

``It would improve the training and the ability of the dogs to do their jobs,'' said Teller, a veteran Los Angeles firefighter/paramedic who has used her dogs to search for victims of the Oklahoma City bombing, the 9-11 terrorist attacks of 2001, the La Conchita mudslide in 2005 and Hurricane Katrina last year.

The Search Dog Foundation was established by retired New Jersey schoolteacher Wilma Melville, who moved to Ojai and became certified with her dog Murphy by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as an advanced disaster search dog team.

In 1995, she and Murphy were deployed to Oklahoma City after the federal building bombing, an experience Melville described as heartbreaking.

As she watched the dogs go over the rubble, barking to indicate where victims were buried she was inspired her to find a better way of creating canine search teams available around the clock to help if disasters occur.

At that time, she said, there were only about 15 certified teams in the country.

``When you want search dogs, you do not want to be scratching your head, saying, Where can I get them?'' said Melville, who is chairwoman of her organization's board of directors. ``We provide them at the highest level at no cost.''

Sixty-four of her foundation's dogs are now deployed with trained handlers in teams certified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

There are 209 FEMA certified dog-handler teams in the country, including 44 in California, where 33 of these dogs were trained by the Search Dog Foundation, foundation officials say.

They hope to have 80 teams in training or certified by FEMA by the end of the year, but estimate that more than 300 are needed nationwide.

Brian Humphrey, a public information officer with the Los Angeles Fire Department, has served as the chairman of the board of the Search Dog Foundation for the past three years.

He said there is a nationwide need for more search dogs, partly because they can work only for about the first 10 years of their lives before they have to be replaced.

The dogs have to meet strict FEMA standards along with their handlers.

Foundation officials said people sometimes offer their pets, including chihuahuas, as search-dog candidates, but only certain dogs are suitable and able to get through the search dog boot camp and training program. Most of the foundation's dogs are golden retrievers, Labradors, German shepherds and border collies.

``It is vital that FEMA is upholding the highest certification standards,'' Humphrey said. ``These dogs have to be able to perform under tremendous pressure. They serve as force multipliers, allowing firefighters to cover blocks of collapsed homes searching for survivors.''

He said the Ojai Search Dog Foundation has been successful because of the contributions of hundreds of people over the years who have donated their time and money, but the group needs a new center.

Information about the Search Dog Foundation, including photos of the dogs and their handlers, is available on the Internet at www.searchdogfoundation.org.

Melville said the foundation is hoping someone will donate about 30 acres of land for a tax deduction to establish the new center, which would offer evaluation, care and pre-training of new canine recruits, and then training for the dogs and handlers.

Janet Reineck, director of development for the Search Dog Foundation, said although only certain dogs are suitable, many of the foundation's search dogs are recruited from shelters or rescue organizations by staff members who know how to spot their potential.

Handlers come from different walks of life, but the Search Dog Foundation works mostly with fire departments interested in having canine search teams because firefighters can make good use of the dogs and are able to offer valuable rescue services themselves at disaster scenes.

Teller, an LAFD inspector, is one of the best-known dog handlers in the nation.

Near her home in Simi Valley her dog Bella found the body in 2001 of Megan Barroso, which helped lead to the conviction of Barroso's killer, Vincent Sanchez.

Although Teller still has Bella, now 14 years old, she now works at disaster scenes with Bella's grandson, Ranger.

``I got Bella when she was about 10 days old. She hadn't even opened her eyes yet,'' said Teller. ``She turned out to be a great dog, but Ranger can't be beat. He is one of the best in the country. He should be cloned.''

Teller had actually donated Ranger as a puppy to the Search Dog Foundation, but when it came time for Bella to retire, she got him back, grown up and trained.

It was a perfect match, said Melville. ``It was just good fortune for everybody (when Teller returned to get Ranger).''

Eric Leach, [phone]

eric.leach(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Los Angeles Fire Department firefighter/paramedic Deresa Teller cuddles search dogs Bella, left, and Ranger. Search Dog Foundation officials say a new center in the south would consolidate administrative and training facilities, saving money and time for the dog handlers like Teller, many of whom are firefighters.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer