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Background
Prior to 2003, Mike Craig and Linda Dunn worked training several different
types of scent dogs. Training and working dogs (mainly Bloodhounds and
German Shepherds) for scent trailing led us to form Carolina Cares (canine-assisted
rescue services)-a free search and rescue service that we provide to law
enforcement departments in North Carolina and parts of Virginia.
In the fall of 2002, Carolina Cares offered its search and rescue services
to the Henry County, Virginia Sheriff's Office during their search for
a missing child, Jennifer Short. As a result of us assisting on this case,
the Henry County Sheriff's Department saw their need for a scent-discriminating
dog and approached us about donating such a dog to their department. With
the help and support of friends, family, and other caring individuals,
in February 2003, we donated a Bloodhound named Jennifer's Saving Grace
(after Jennifer Short) and all of the necessary gear to the Henry County
Sheriff's Office. We also trained Grace's handler, Corporal Rik Vaughn.
All expenses for this endeavor came out of our own pockets. As we turned
Grace over to Rik, we both marveled at how wonderful we felt for having
been able to accomplish this task.
The concept that became Canines for Kids, Inc. was born out of our experience
with the Henry County Sheriff's Office as well as other experiences we
had while searching for missing children. We realized if we could turn
what we did out of our own pockets into a non-profit organization, we
might be able to continue to train and donate dogs to law enforcement
agencies across the nation. While the need for scent-discriminating dogs
is great, we found that in these times of tight funding and budget cuts,
most law enforcement agencies simply do not have the funds available to
purchase a dog and pay for the training of it and its handler.
Because these dogs are trained to track a specific scent, they can also
be used to track suspects who have fled from law enforcement officers.
This makes them a useful, everyday tool for their departments. Having
a dog with the ability to track suspects or escapees can significantly
reduce the time it takes to apprehend these people. A well trained dog
and handler can save their department time, money, and manpower, as well
as provide an extra measure of safety for the officers who are attempting
to take into custody someone who has fled.
In early 2007, we decided that donating scent discriminating dogs was
not enough. We had been approached by departments that needed cadaver
dogs and we saw a great need for school resource dogs (dogs trained to
locate guns and drugs in our schools) as well. So we decided to expand
our services to include these types of scent dogs. Canines for Kids, Inc.
was going to have to change.
We thought that the name Public Safety Dogs, Inc. was a better indicator
of the services we offer. And so we begin a new chapter in our lives;
one that we both look forward to writing.
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