National Disaster Search Dog Foundation Plans New Training Facility in Santa Paula, ...( SANTA PAULA Calif. May 19 /- Toda...),Health

SANTA PAULA, Calif., May 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF), the organization that provides the most highly trained canine-firefighter disaster search teams in the nation, announced that it has secured a $4.1 million 122-acre ranch site in Santa Paula, California, to build the first National Training Center of its kind. The National Training Center (NTC) will allow SDF to help strengthen America's vulnerable emergency response network by training more teams to ensure that no one is left behind when disaster strikes.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080519/AQM157-a)

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080519/AQM157-b)

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080519/AQM157-c)

"There's nothing more basic than having the resources needed when human lives are at stake," says SDF Executive Director Debra Tosch. "The National Search Dog Foundation's ability to deliver highly trained teams at no cost to fire departments is especially important as emergency budgets are cut and resources are strained to the limit."

Over the next three years, the National Search Dog Foundation plans to raise $15 million for the purchase of the land, construction and a maintenance endowment. The creation of this facility will enable SDF to consolidate its canine kennels, search training sites and offices to the new location in 2010.

"I had a vision that one day SDF would have a permanent home -- a place where rescued dogs could become rescuers at the hands of highly skilled and loving trainers," says SDF Founder Wilma Melville. "It will be a real challenge to raise the funds needed for the National Training Center, but the nation has giv
'/>"/>