Thanks to a unique combination of skills honed through specialized training programs, Sandoval County Fire and Rescue (SCFR) K-9 units are helping out on missions throughout the state.
On April 29, SCFR reported that their K-9s were called to assist the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, Roswell Fire Department and the New Mexico State Fire Marshal’s Office in searching the scene of an April 25 fire at the Roswell Air Center in Chavez County. The dogs were searching for human remains, although they found none in the wreckage.
Advances in technology, especially the use of personal cellphones and GPS have made it safer for outdoor enthusiasts to explore the vast New Mexico wilderness, and calls to emergency responders to locate lost travelers have become less frequent in recent years. Reliance on technology presents its own set of obstacles that K-9 units help rescue workers overcome. Even with those advancements, SCFR Capt. Shannon Ferrell told The Signpost that her department still gets called to search for missing people. Technology can fail, batteries die and some of the most urgent searches involve people who do not have working phones.
Ferrell recalled a recent search for an elderly person with dementia lost in the bosque at night and said that those types of special needs calls are usually the ones that require K-9 assistance.
“Little kids will get tucked into vegetation and get scared,” Ferell said. “They won’t call back when you’re calling their names.”
Tracking and Trailing
In the event that someone gets lost or injured in a large area, or a location thick with undergrowth, the dogs can access spots that their human handlers cannot.
“They’ll be off-leash,” Ferrell said. “You’ll give them the command and then they start searching, we have GPS on their collars.”
Unsurprisingly, the dogs’ most valuable tool is their nose. Tracking, according to Ferrell, is exactly what it sounds like. The dogs are able to detect a scent unique to an individual by literally sticking their nose in each of their footprints. To a dog, the type of shampoo or perfume a person wears, their scent glands, or the hundreds of skin particles that fall from their body as they walk can indicate the location of a lost or missing person, even in a large or remote area.
“All of those things are a picture to the dog.” Ferrell said. “Those things don’t just sit in the footprints, the wind blows them and they kind of fall all over the area.”
When a dog follows a scent that has been dispersed and determines their traveling route, it is called trailing.
Detecting Human Remains
SCFR recently purchased a boat that will help perform lifesaving search-and-rescue operations during the spring runoff season, when increased flow and faster-running water speeds make New Mexico rivers and streams particularly dangerous. The potential for drowning is also greater during this time and the dogs must also be ready.
“Now that they got the boat, they’re asking us to incorporate the dogs to find human remains. So if somebody drowns, they want us to look for that,” Ferrell said. “And even though the dogs have training in [detecting] human remains, this is definitely specialized.”
The dogs have been trained to detect human remains from the shoreline, but the spring runoff makes conditions dangerous for dogs and humans alike. By searching for remains from a boat, the dogs stay safe while helping divers pinpoint possible locations in large or murky bodies of water with low visibility. The searches can be hazardous because of debris in the water, and they are time consuming and expensive. Using the dogs’ boat skills saves the county money by reducing the amount of time and manpower required to dive and search for remains.
In 2023, SCFR K9 teams participated in 18 requested searches from law enforcement and fire departments across New Mexico. To date in 2024, they have been involved in five.