"A New Job For Pearl" & The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation

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Founded in 1966, the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation has 74 trained search teams in seven states across the United States. One of those teams, Captain Ron Horetski and his canine, Pearl, have received an extremely prestigious award. Named for her glossy black coat, Pearl, short for Black Pearl, was named the 2010 ASPCA "Dog of the Year."

"We're the only K-9 Team within any fire or police organization or K-9 unit to receive this award," expressed Pearl's handler, Captain Ron Horetski with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Horetski was told by the Search Dog Foundation that he and Pearl would be on their way to New York City to receive their award. "I was very surprised, I didn't know what to expect," he said.

Ron Horetski stated that out of approximately 13,000 people nominated, the ASPCA selected Pearl to receive the award for 2010. Horetski added, "It recognized our canine program within LA County and it recognized California Task Force 2."
 
Captain Horetski explained that there is a 10,000 square foot rubble pile in which a canine has to complete in 20 minutes. Pearl completed this task in just twelve & a half minutes. While participating in a training session for Pearl, Captain Horetski explained, "We have a little cloud cover, a little drizzle, which is good for the dog because the cooler the weather, the more work you're going to get out of Pearl."

Pearl's handler started her upwind so that the wind blew the human scent towards her to bring her back to the victim. "As she's moving she's picking up scent through her nose and also through her mouth," claimed Horetski. "As you can see, she just popped her nose in there, she really didn't go in there, basically she just covered the spot. She didn't pick up any scent. If she doesn't find anything, she'll come right back out to me. If she does find anything, you're going to hear a constant bark."

Once the rubble pile is cleared in a training session, Pearl will receiver her toy. Captain Horetski explained, "I sent her on her mission, she completed it successfully and this is the only time she gets a toy is when the job is finished."

Because of her high toy drive, Pearl was brought to the attention of the Search Dog Foundation and ultimately paired with Ron. Ron and Pearl have been together for about two years and received their FEMA certification in May of 2009. They became one of six canine teams to deploy to Haiti with California Task Force 2.

As a handler, it's Ron's job to ensure her safety, so when she comes back to him, he does what's called a vet check. "Rub her underneath her legs, on her belly. Make sure being on the rubble pile she didn't get poked with any rebar, broken glass, cause that's an issue that we had in Haiti."

According to Captain Ron Horetski, Haiti was the first international deployment for the Search Dog Foundation and also for LA County and California Task Force 2. "The areas she [Pearl] got in, I mean, it's remarkable the work she did," said Horetski. All of the dogs with the Task Force did an amazing job rescuing twelve people from the rubble of the devastating earthquake.

A class of second graders, who have also taken to Pearl, were part of a book that's been written about her called 'A New Job for Pearl'." The author of the book, Allyn Lee, volunteers once a week talking to a class about all kinds of wild animals. "When I get to wolves, I always use that opportunity to talk about dogs and service dogs. I love giving them examples from real life, from the news, that show the way that dogs help people," expressed Allyn Lee.

The massive earthquake that struck Haiti occurred the week after her lesson on service dogs. Shortly after, Allyn began following news stories and came across the canine search teams. She felt this was an excellent way to illustrate what she had been teaching her second graders. In her research, she came upon the Search Dog Foundation and was excited to learn that many of their dogs come from shelters, including Pearl. She wanted to use this as an opportunity to teach the children about adopting shelter animals.

A book is a wonderful media for sharing this story and awareness, according to Allyn Lee. Allyn and the children that illustrated the 24-page 'A New Job for Pearl' have sold enough books to reach their $10,000 goal. The proceeds will now go towards furthering the education of the amazing black lab, Pearl.

To purchase the book about Pearl and help the Search Dog Foundation, visit www.anewjobforpearl.org.



Author:Barbara Brooks - Video, Renee Marquart - Text