“Jester and I have been training together for almost two years,” said OCFA Engineer Davis Doty. Experts estimate that a single dog team can be as effective as 20 to 30 trained human searchers in locating a missing person in a given period of time. Because of their extraordinary abilities, dogs are often able to reduce the time spent searching, thereby increasing the chances that the missing persons will be found alive. The dogs’ ultra-sensitive hearing, night vision, endurance and keen sense of smell have continually proven to be invaluable in the effort to locate missing persons. The amount of time spent away from home during travel and training requires substantial personal time as well as a tremendous amount of support from their family.”ĭog teams have a very special role in the world of search and rescue. The long-term obligation to care for and maintain training for their canine partners is very lengthy. “Our canine handlers make a huge commitment to the US&R program. “We are extremely fortunate to have this new search team available to the communities we serve,” said Fire Chief Chip Prather. The program uses firefighters in cooperation with California Task Force 5 (CATF-5) and the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation. As part of OCFA’s Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) team, canine handlers must be willing to dedicate 8-10 years to the canine program or to the working life of the dog. It took more than a year and a half of specialized training and numerous hours of hard work for Jester and his handler, Fire Apparatus Engineer Davis Doty, to become Orange County Fire Authority’s first nationally certified search canine team.
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