From the Tragedy of the Oklahoma City Bombing Was Born a Human-Canine Bond That Relentlessly Saves Lives

When two children got lost during a hike in rural New York with oncoming rain commingling with the darkening night, it wasn’t drones or thermal heat sensors that found them. It was Luka, a Belgian Malinois search dog. His enthusiastic signal led his handler away from the search area to a steep ravine, where they were found in the dark, cold but unharmed.

It was only a few years earlier when Luka himself needed rescuing. Found by an animal control officer in Central California as a stray, a rotating host of temporary owners deemed Luka “un-adoptable.” That is, before the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation found him.

The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation is unlike any other organization in the U.S., having pioneered a model that has helped hundreds of dogs, created highly skilled search teams, filling a critical need by pairing the rescued with rescuers. 

Teams have been part of search-and-rescue efforts including 9/11, earthquakes in Haiti, the Camp Fire (in the Sierra Nevada Mountains; this was the deadliest and most destructive fire in California’s history) and the deadly mudslides in Montecito in 2018. 

Oddly, certain behavioral traits that often make dogs poor pets make for great rescue dogs.

“These dogs won’t quit,” says Denise Sanders, senior director of communications and handler operations. “We look for those that are super high energy, toy obsessed, and have laser-like focus on the job at hand. That’s what you need to ensure resilience during deployments when there’s difficult terrain and rough conditions.”

The foundation combs shelters, finding dogs that train for up to 12 months at their 145-acre National Training Center in Santa Paula, California, and are teamed with first responders across the nation to complete their certification. The foundation also provides a lifetime commitment of care for the dog and ongoing training for handlers.

“The reason that these search teams are able to do this work so well is because of the relationship between handler and dog,” Sanders says. “Our handler training program focuses on the depth and longevity of that bond, building on the historical foundation that humans and dogs have always partnered and been companions.”

This vision was born in 1995, when founder Wilma Melville combed through the rubble of the Oklahoma City bombing with her search dog, Murphy. That harrowing experience made her realize the need for more highly trained search teams. 

She started with the goal of training 168 certified canine disaster search teams to honor the 168 victims of the bombing. The foundation exceeded that goal in 2020 and has now trained and certified more than 229 teams, with 84 currently working across the country assisting with landslides, missing persons, and collapsed structures this year alone, including 21 in the Los Angeles area (12 in the Bay Area and 57 across California).