KATHY ADAMLE :   Kathy has been a dog handler and involved in K9 training since 1996 and teaches AKC Obedience and Rally Obedience for all breeds. She has been in Search and Rescue since 2002 and is currently a member of the Geauga County Sheriff’s Office K9 Unit. Kathy’s K9 certifications include NAPWDA, NASAR and LETS, with all 3 of her Golden Retrievers which includes area/wilderness, article/evidence, Human Remains (land, water, disaster), tracking/trailing, and disaster live search. She has been deployed for missing persons, human remains detection and disaster sites. Kathy and her K9 partners have also been certified with the Delta Society since 2002 and her research on the human-animal bond continues to be a valuable aid in teaching the importance of foundation training in Search and Rescue/Recovery work.

Trish Cartino :   Trish Cartino is a retired Master Firefighter from the Virginia Beach Fire Department. She has been training and handling search and rescue dogs since 1995. Trish was a member of Virginia Task Force II, a FEMA Urban Search and Rescue team, for 10 years. She graduated from North State Canine Training Academy in Sanford, North Carolina as a Master Trainer in 1999 and attended FEMA’s Canine Search Specialist School in Fairfax, Virginia in 2004. As a VATF II member and co-founder and member of Greater Atlantic Rescue Dogs, a non-profit canine search and rescue group based in Virginia Beach, Trish and her search dog “Joey” have responded to numerous searches including the September 11th attack on the Pentagon in 2001. Joey is now retired. Trish has been teaching K9 Search and Rescue seminars in Appomattox, Va. for Old Dominion SAR since 2003. Recently Trish co-founded Virginia Recovery Canines, Inc. and is handling “Rocco”, a certified Human Remains Detection Dog.

BURT CRAWFORD:    burt has been involved with scent hounds for over 35 years. The last 15 years have been with bloodhounds. he is currently a k-9 reserve deputy with Lapeer County Sheriff’s department. the majority of Burt’s calls are investigative calls working with detectives in the four surrounding counties of Detroit. Burt also gives seminars to the detective classes at auburn hills community college on the use of bloodhounds in present day crimes, Burt has attended seminars with LEBA, NPBA, NAPWDA and Old Dominion. he says their training and ideas have been a valuable part of his bloodhound handling. He is currently working with “832” k-9’s out of Florida starting young dogs that will be placed with law enforcement departments throughout the country.

NANCY GREGORY:    Nancy Gregory started in Canine Search and Rescue in October of 1991 and was operational with her first dog, “Denver” with Dogs East Search and Rescue group. She became a member of FEMA’s Virginia Task Force II in January 1995. Nancy attended the Canine Search Specialist School in Indiana in March 1995 and was deployed to the Oklahoma City bombing in April of that year. Other FEMA deployments include Hurricane Opal in September 1996 and the terrorist attack on the Pentagon in September 2001. Nancy graduated from North State Canine Training Academy in 1999 as a Master Trainer. She is a co-founder and former member of Greater Atlantic Rescue Dogs, Inc., based in Chesapeake, Va. Nancy has been an instructor for Old Dominion SAR since 2003.

SANDRA LESKO:    Sandra has been employed by the Willoughby Hills Fire Department since 1982 and is currently a full-time Captain. She has also worked in Law Enforcement since 1990, currently a Deputy with the Geauga County Sheriffs Office assigned to the K-9 Unit. Sandra has been working with K-9's since 1996 starting in the field of tracking but soon switched to Human Remains Detection and has been working a Cadaver Dog for the past 12 years. Sandra has worked with the Cleveland Office of the FBI for the past 6 1/2 years primarily on missing persons cases with her German Shepherd K-9 Gondo. K-9 Gondo has successfully alerted on blood evidence and small parts of human remains in several vehicles and buildings which has ultimately linked suspects to the victims. Sandra is a member of CSAR and the North American Police Work Dog Association, in addition to numerous other affiliations. She continually attends schools on death investigation and other related classes, as well as, attends and teaches classes on K-9 Human Remains Detection.

AL & PATTI MEANS:     Al & Patti have been working Bloodhounds for 23 years and in 1988, they founded Red Rose K-9 SAR Team in Strasburg (Lancaster County), PA. Together, they have trained 10 Bloodhounds. Callouts include both SAR and criminal cases. Al testified in PA Federal Court on a capital murder case in which he and his K9 partner located evidence. This was the first time a Bloodhound’s findings were entered into Federal Court in PA. Memberships include Virginia Bloodhound Search & Rescue (VBSAR), the American Bloodhound Club (ABC), and the Colonial Bloodhound Club (CBC). Al & Patti are both recognized ABC Bloodhound MTX trailing trial judges and trained presenters of the Hug-A-Tree & Survive program. They have instructed at Bloodhound training seminars for Barbour County Tactical Search and Recovery Teams, Law Enforcement Technical Specialists (LETS), Mid-Michigan Search & Rescue, and Old Dominion Search & Rescue. In 2003, the Al & Patti were recipients of the Jefferson Award for Lancaster County, PA – a nationally recognized award for outstanding volunteerism to their community through the work they do with their Bloodhounds.

DICK MOFFETT:    Dick has a background of 35 plus years work with Law Enforcement. Thirty-one years were spent with the Monroe County (NY) Sheriff’s Office with Nearly a quarter of a century working all breeds of K-9 but mainly bloodhounds. Upon Retiring from there, he went on to work during the summers for the NY State Park Police. While in the Sheriff’s Department, Dick was Sargent in charge of a nine man K9 unit, responsible for their training and supervision over a seven-year period. He has been a certified K9 Instructor and certified K9 Examiner for the State of New York. As a member of the NPBA for over 23 years, he has served as past Trustee and Instructor. Dick has also been a member of NAPWDA for over 18 years. He is currently a K9 instructor for LEBA. He has trained his own bloodhounds for man trailing and a Labrador for narcotics and cadaver work. Dick is currently working as the Town Justice for Hamlin, NY.

TIM and SUZY PERRY:   Tim and Suzy have been working bloodhounds for since 1991. Their bloodhounds are trained in Mantrailing as well as land and water cadaver. They are members of Sumner County Emergency Management of which Tim is the K-9 Captain and the Sumner County Sheriff’s Department in Gallatin, tn. Tim is currently doing his additional 425 hours of in-service training for the Sumner County Sheriff’s Department. Suzy has been serving on the SWGDOG Committee, a scientific working group on dogs and orthogonal detector guidelines, since 2005. Swgdog is collaboratively funded by the FBI, National Institute of Justice and Department of Homeland Security. Since their relocation back to Tennessee they receive all types of callouts on felonies/lost children/drownings/murderers/burglaries and Alzheimer patients. Since their arrival back in Tennessee they have been deployed for two tornadoes with their bloodhounds. Tim and Suzy are members of the National Police Bloodhound Association (NPBA) and Law Enforcement Bloodhound Association (LEBA). They attend and/or instruct at at least four seminars a year.

RICK RUMLEY:   Rick has been a K-9 supervisor and trainer for the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office in Winston-Salem since 1990. He is a charter member and trainer for the Eastern States working Dog Association with endorsements of police service dog, narcotic detention and explosive detection. He has been training and handling trailing dogs, police service dogs and detection dogs since 1977. Rick comes to us with over 28 years of law enforcement experience holding the following certificates: Patrol/Narcotic Detection K-9 Trainer, Triad Canine Inc., Tactical K-9 Strategies, North Carolina Justice Academy, Managing Search Function and North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety.

DAN SENGER:     Dan comes to us as a national instructor and member of the NPBA. He is a charter member and instructor for the Virginia Bloodhound SAR. He is a member of the American Bloodhound Club and field trial judge. Dan is also a member of the Colonial Bloodhound Club. He is an instructor for the Old Dominion seminars. Dan has instructed Law Enforcement participants from seven different countries.

BOB URBAN:   Just recently, Bob took the position of Chief Ranger at Geauga Park district in Chardon, Ohio. He has retired his K-9 partner Tory and plans to start a new k-9 soon. Formerly, Bob was employed by the Lake Metroparks Ranger Department for the last 20 years. He was previously assigned to the Detective Bureau and k-9 search Unit in 1996. He is a certified instructor through the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy and a certified Field Training Officer. Bob has been active in the breeding, training, showing and hunting of AKC Registered Black and Tan Coonhounds since 1981. In 2001 he began working a Bloodhound in training in addition to his full-time K-9 partner Tory – a Black and Tan Coonhound. Since its inception in 1997, the k-9 unit has been responsible for both live finds and body recoveries in both the metroparks and adjacent communities. Past and present organizational affiliations include Canine Search and Recovery (Board member), North American Police working Dog Assn., Indiana Police Workdog Assn., in addition to numerous other affiliations.

JOHN USHER:   John has been in law enforcement for over twenty-five years with the last twenty years with the Dover, NH Police Department. John has been a K-9 Officer/Trainer with the department for eighteen years and is the K-9 Supervisor of the four dog unit. In that time John has handled three patrol/narcotic dogs. John also works for the Strafford County Sheriff's Office and has handled/supervised their Bloodhound Unit for the last eight years. John is the Head Trainer for the New Hampshire Police K-9 Academy and is responsible for the training and certification of over forty dog teams. John is a certified trainer/evaluator of patrol/narcotic/explosive dogs with the United States Police Canine Association and is an instructor with the Law Enforcement Bloodhound Association.

RON VENABLE:    Ronnie is retired from the Winston-Salem Police Department after 30 years. He has 16 years experience as a Police k-9 handler. Ronnie is a member and instructor for the Law Enforcement Bloodhound Association and National Police Bloodhound Association. His credentials include: Graduate of the AB Taylor Man-tracking School and the development of frozen scent procedures for the National Alzheimer Association for care givers. He and is canine Jessie were responsible for putting four inmates on death row.

List updated 02/19/2012