k9sm testifies at the Minnesota stateĀ legislature hearings on changes to body grip trapping laws3/12/2015
On Monday, March 9, 2015, Denise was present to testify before the MN State Senate subcommittee regarding bill SF 1325, which is intended to modify body grip trapping laws. Her testimony starts at about 5:30 into this clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsMmSQgiLmo&feature=youtu.be On Wednesday, March 11, 2015, Brian and Denise also testified before the MN State House subcommittee. Carla and Chad were our cheerleaders. Once again, K9SM members and dogs helped bring a bit of K9 fun to the Annual MARS Wiggle Butt 5K on Harriett Island in St. Paul, MN. Brian, Carla & K9 Squirrel and Denise & K9 Eva were all able to entertain those in attendance on this nice, cool autumn (really? already?) day. Fresh off their NAPWDA training and camping, the dogs were calm (right!) and well-behaved (okay, 1 out of 2 ain't bad).
Gary, Carla & K9 Squirrel, Sarah & K9 Niko and Denise & K9 Eva attended the NAPWDA Search & Rescue Workshop, September 15 - 19, 2014 at Camp Ripley, MN, again organized and hosted by CLSAR. Much was learned, and it was a great week, under the tutelage of Dr. Stephen “Doc” Mackenzie, Master Trainer for Air Scenting and his assistant Trainer, Kyle.
Announcing the Fall Membership meeting for Search Rescue and Recovery Resources, SRRRMN. We look forward to seeing all of our members from throughout the state and invite anyone else who is interested in learning more
about search and rescue and what SRRRMN is, to join us for the day. Thank you to the Crow Wing Mounted Posse for arranging a meeting room and facility for us to use. DATE: Saturday, October 11, 2014 TIME: 9:00 to 4:00. Business Meeting, followed by lunch and an afternoon of SAR training. ADDRESS: Crow Wing County Highway Maintenance Building, 16589 County Road 142, Brainerd, MN An agenda and more details about the training will sent out as soon as they are finalized. If you have any questions, please feel free to email Emily Boote at emboote@aol.com RSVPs are appreciated so our instructors know how many to plan for. Some months ago, I sent a note to my State Representative, Jim Davnie, concerning the restriction of body grip traps, specifically to protect search dogs. This is a transcript of the correspondence:
Brian, Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I was aware of efforts to protect dogs from traps but not on the level of detail you clearly have. I'll discuss this with Rep. John Ward to worked on this issue. Thanks also for the work you do in SAR. I don't need to tell you how valuable it is to law enforcement and to the families of missing persons. All the best, Representative Jim Davnie District 63A 454 State Office Building 100 Rev. Martin Luther King Blvd St. Paul, MN 55155 (651) 296-0173 Dear Jim, I am a volunteer member of K9 Search Midwest, a non-profit unit dedicated to training K9 search and rescue (SAR) dog+handler teams (for finding lost people). When needed, we are deployed by law enforcement organizations, or other associated SAR organizations (who were contacted by law enforcement) in the area. Our area search teams can cover a lot of area in a short period of time, so when we train, we need large areas to hide people, then go to find them. Typically we use area parks and other wilderness areas in Central MN. Many times we've been called out in mutual aid to Northern MN or Northern WI for search activities. Recently, it has come to my attention that the 2012 legislative changes made to body grip trap laws were NOT effective in protecting dogs from being caught and killed in body grip traps. I want you to know that I support changing body grip trap laws further to protect dogs (especially SAR dogs) from being caught and killed in body grip traps and I am asking you to do the same. Many of our SAR dogs are off-lead while searching and it would be devastating to all of us for any of our dogs to be killed, while searching or training, by a trap such as this, with no warning. Thanks so much for your consideration in this matter. Brian L Benson When? April 26, 2014, 1000 - 1200 CDT Where? Carver County Sheriff's Headquarters, 606 E 4th St, Chaska, MN 55318 (44.787655, -93.592857) What Else? The meeting will be held in the Sheriff's main training room. We will then break for lunch (on your own), and reconvene at 1300 CDT at Lake Minnewashta Regional Park (44°52'47"N 93°35'50"W) for navigational and geocaching challenges. Today was the winter meeting of Search, Rescue and Recovery Resources of Minnesota (SRRRMN) in Burnsville. As it's been for quite some time, it was rather cold, so no outdoor training was scheduled. Denise, Carla and Brian attended for K9SM.
Brian, John Warren (HCMP) and Rick Slatten (SLCER) were elected to the SRRRMN Board of Directors, and Ken Anderson was reelected. Chuck Lubowitz (CLSAR) conducted another fascinating case study and round table discussion on Lost Person Behavior. Brian, Carla & K9 Squirrel, Sarah & K9 Niko and Denise & K9 Eva all attended the NAPWDA Search & Rescue Workshop, September 23 - 27, 2013 at Camp Ripley, MN. We all had a great week, and spent much of our time under the tutelage of Dr. Stephen “Doc” Mackenzie, Master Trainer for Air Scenting. Both Carla & K9 Squirrel and Denise & K9 Eva achieved NAPWDA Search and Rescue Area Search certification. Doc helped us understand “back-chaining", a method of teaching K9s. This method has given Sarah a new understanding of how to calm her very high drive puppy (K9 Niko).
See more information at NAPWDA's website. Kevin Hunter, host of the Business Forum Radio Show, attended one of our State Fair presentations at the Lumberjack Arena and it piqued his interest in K9SM. He and his co-host, Dave Ford, invited us chat on his show. It was a little unnerving, but really good fun! See Brian, Sarah and Denise in action here (sorry, we couldn’t fit the dogs in the studio):
Part One Part Two |
|