Search-and-rescue dog team sniffs way to successes

Web Posted : 01/22/2003 12:00 AM

In the fields off Lakeside Parkway, near Highway 151 and Loop 410, a search dog is put through his paces.

The Shar-Pei breed isn't known for tracking, but Teddie bucks the myth.

His trainer, Karen Dye, 62, a retired teacher, reeled out slack from the 30-foot leash attached to his harness as he walked along the shore of a pond, sniffing for the scent of a missing person.

Tugging at his leash, Teddie rushed to a thicket and found a smiling Andrew Joplin, whose scent he'd tracked for eight minutes.

"Code 11, victim alive and well," Dye said into her headset, reporting back to base operations.

Joplin, Dye and Teddie practice similar scenarios twice a week as part of San Antonio's Blacksun Search and Rescue Canine Team.

"Blacksun is Native American, meaning eclipse," said Roni Braendle, team president. "It kind of goes along with our banner (that says), 'In darkness they are lost, we search to bring them to the light.'"

Braendle, the only original member, helped create the team in 1999. She thought of creating a dog handling team after noticing a small group of individual canine handlers helping on searches.

"I was on a search with (Frank) Omer Bangs (former president of the Heidi Search Center) and there was only a few individuals with five dogs," Braendle said. "We had 350 acres to cover and a small number of people. I thought it might be a great idea to have an organized team of dog handlers that worked together."

The all-volunteer, 12-member team and their dozen tracking dogs are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to track human scents. Along with Bangs, Blacksun is one of two organized tracking dog teams in the San Antonio area.

The dogs used include Belgian Malinois, German shepherds, bluetick coonhounds, Doberman pinschers and a Rottweiler, all certified as tracking/trailing, air-scent or cadaver-search dogs.

Tracking dogs follow a person's scent in a search area. Air-scent dogs detect airborne human scents, and cadaver-search dogs search for human remains on the surface, buried or under water.

The Heidi Search Center for Missing Children called the team to help track 9-year-old Nykema Augustine, who was abducted and later returned to her apartment complex in March 2001. Since then, the center has requested the team's help on all of its cases.

"They're the first one we call for live scent or evidence (tracking)," said Kate Kohl, the center's director. "When you're working with them, everything is going to be kept professional. They truly care for the people they're searching for. They drop everything whenever we call."

The dogs were instrumental in locating flood victim Chris Lewis, whose car was swept away in Menger Creek on July 4. Kohl recalled that the dogs found a pillow and shorts belonging to Lewis after 15 minutes on the scene.

The team's most recent case involved searching for Susan McFarland, a 43-year-old mother from Terrell Hills who was reported missing in late November. Her burned remains were found Jan. 14 by officers following up on a tip.

Each member on the team plays a role as either a canine handler, field operator or base-of-operations staff person.

Canine handlers train their own dogs and are certified in first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation for humans and dogs.

A 20-year certified veterinary technician, Braendle has managed her own stables, kennels and dog obedience school since 1972. It was her experience working with dogs that prompted the canine handler to start the team.

"It's a game to the dog," Braendle said, adding that different dogs need different types of motivation for chasing scents. She said some are motivated by petting or food, but they only get the reward when a find is made.

Handlers also have to learn to rely on the dogs' scenting ability, she added.

"They don't know more than the dog," Braendle said. "That's why we (also) train at night. (The handlers) can't see and they have to trust the dog."

Field operators help handlers by marking evidence, maintaining radio communication and assisting with medical emergencies.

Base operations members coordinate radio communication between the base and members in the field.

The team operates within a 100-mile radius of San Antonio except in major cases involving a child or elderly person. The farthest the team has traveled was 106 miles to Georgetown in January 2002 to help search for 22-year-old Rachel Cooke, who has yet to be found.

Once they're at a site, there's little chance they'll blend in with the terrain.

Their uniforms — black cargo pants, fluorescent orange T-shirts and military combat boots — are designed so the team can be seen from a distance in the daytime.

James Joplin, team evidence officer, works searches with his sons, Andrew, 16, and Adam, 18. He said it costs each member $2,000 to get outfitted with uniforms and equipment, but it's worth it.

"It all comes out of our own pockets," Joplin said. "But we're just out here to help people."

Bangs has worked with the team since Braendle helped with its formation.

Braendle considers Bangs her mentor and said without his help there wouldn't be a search-and-rescue team.

"She worked hard to get them going," Bangs said. "They're a big help, always available. When you have a missing person you need them now, not a couple of days later."

For more information about joining the Blacksun Search and Rescue Canine Team, call (210) 679-7449.

vtdavis@express-news.net

01/22/2003