K9 Search & Rescue Services of West Virginia Inc.

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If you have a missing loved one, contact 911.           We do not search for lost pets.

K9 Search & Rescue Services of West Virginia Inc. is an all volunteer group of specially trained individuals and K9's with the mission of locating and reuniting lost/missing persons with their loved ones through the use of basic and advanced search and rescue techniques. We assist emergency response agencies by providing aid in search and rescue operations. Our services may be requested by the public through that of emergency response agencies.

 Our team both volunteers and K9's are certified using standards adopted from NASAR, and each certification is evaluated and signed off by a K9 Law Enforcement Officer not affiliated with our team. Our K9's are scent discriminant, meaning they can discriminate one individual's scent from another. By obtaining the individual's scent articular, our K9's both Air scent and Trailing, can locate the scent of the lost subject. Our Human Remains Detection (H.R.D) dogs search for deceased individuals on land and in water. Criminal, Suicide, or Archaeological/Historic. 


Our members are also presenters of the NASAR "Hug-A-Tree and Survive" program created by Ab Taylor. This program aims to reduce the amount of children lost each year and provide them with the information they need to survive if they do become lost. To request our services or to book a "Hug-A-Tree and Survive" presentation please contact (304)421-4252 or (304)373-4134. Email us at k9sarserviceswv@gmail.com
It is an absolute honor to announce that our organization has partnered with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children We have been working with NCMEC since 2022 to become trained and make things official and we are so proud to say, IT'S OFFICIAL! You can request a presentation by contacting us at (304)373-4134 or (304)373-3770 or Email k9sarserviceswv@gmail.com

Air Scent Discriminant

"Airscent usually refers to search dogs that use airscenting techniques to search areas. Airscent dogs work with their nose in the air, will ignore ground scent and will follow and locate people by catching the "hot" scent of people on the wind. Airscenting techniques are very effective for covering large areas quickly and can produce high probabilities of detection if conditions are good for airscenting. Time is not an issue. Some airscenting dogs are also trained to scent discriminate, meaning they can be pre-scented on an article from the missing persons and can pick this person from others in the search area. Airscent dogs usually work off lead. Most are trained to find the victim, alert the handler when the victim has been found, and the return the handler to the victim. This is called a refind." criminal justice ny

Human Remains Detection

"Cadaver or HRD dogs are used to locate the remains of deceased victims. Cadaver dogs can locate entire bodies (including those buried or submerged), decomposed bodies, body fragments (including blood, tissues, hair, and bones), or skeletal remains; the capability of the dog is dependent upon its training. Cadaver dogs, also trained as water dogs, can be useful in drowning situations." criminal justice ny 

Scent Discriminant Trailing

"Trailing dogs are trained to follow a specific human scent, which may or may not approximate the path the person took because of factors affecting the dispersal of scent such as wind and temperature. To start the dog is started on the trail at the point where the victim was last seen (PLS). Trailing dogs will follow the route of scent deposited on the ground as a person moves through an area. A trained trailing dog can follow the steps of someone who passed by several days earlier, discriminate between it and another's trail, and follow it over hills and through marshland. Dogs can even trail people in cars, from the scent that blows out of the window or through the vents of the car." criminal justice ny 
 
In Order to make a difference, we rely on the support of generous individuals and businesses in our community. We would be most grateful if you would consider providing a donation to our origination. Your support is critical to the functionality of team efforts so other may live.

We are a non-profit 501c3 tax exempt organization and your donations are tax-deductible contributions. 

We do not charge the family, emergency agencies departments, or tax payers for our services. So, we rely on donations for . If you would like to leave a donation, click the link. Thank you.