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Public Safety Dogs, Inc. is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization. Originally founded as Canines for Kids, Inc. in 2003 by Mike Craig and Linda Dunn, Public Safety Dogs, Inc. trains a variety of scent dogs and donates the dogs, all of their equipment and their handlers' training to law enforcement agencies across the United States.

Donations to Public Safety Dogs, Inc. are tax-deductible and greatly appreciated. All donations go towards getting dogs into the field--Public Safety Dogs, Inc. is run by an all-volunteer staff.

  
 
Contact Us:

Public Safety Dogs, Inc.
4581B Tangle Ridge Trail Burlington, NC 27217

phone: (336) 578-8538

publicsafetydogs@yahoo.com

      
       
      

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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