RSSUS Contractor Roy Hallmus Freed In Iraq
This is fantastic news out of Iraq; Roy Hallmus has been freed!!! Please read My Pet Jawa for the news accounts and updates as Rusty has done yeoman’s work on efforts to keep Mr. Hallmus in the fore front of the publics eye and has worked directly with Roy’s family in doing whatever he could in support and pressure media and government outlets.
Aruba group seeking divers to search for Natalee Holloway
From The Tuscaloosa news, the Aruba Search and Rescue Foundation seeks more divers to continue to search for Natalee Holloway in waters off Aruba’s east coast.
An Aruba group is seeking divers to continue the search for Natalee Holloway, the Alabama teenager who went missing nearly three months ago on the Dutch Caribbean island.
The group wants to lead the divers in exploring waters off Aruba’s east coast, where Holloway was staying with 124 Mountain Brook High School classmates, said Eduardo Mansur, co-founder of the Aruba Search and Rescue Foundation, which has been helping search for the teenager since she vanished May 30.
Although the waters have been searched before, the group wants to try again with the help of a machine invented by an American who claims it can detect human bones and teeth under water, Mansur said. The inventor, Joe Walker, came to Aruba to help in the search, Mansur said.
Q & A with Dog Handler Expert, Sam Pepenella Part 3
Scared Monkeys continues with the final part of our intial interview and Q&A session with Sam Pepenella, cadaver dog expert. Sam is a part of The K9 Forensic and Recovery Team. San will be back again this Thursday evening with Renee Utley to answer more questions live at Scared Monkeys. Join the discussion forum and participate. Previous Q&A interview: Part 1, Part 2
SunnyinTX wrote: Are either gendered dog more suitable/ trainable…I most often seem to hear females names of S&R and cadaver dogs….
Sam: Depends who you ask. I have a F, she is great, dependable and very good at what she does but she will be the last F I own. From my experience, the males have a stronger drive…..I know I’ll hear it from that statement…..Sorry all the female fans…….
cathicus wrote: Can you let the dogs off-leash to find a scent? I imagine that in dangerous situations such as a landfill, it’s better to keep them on-leash. I own sight hounds – greyhounds who would be no good at this job. My hat’s off to your dogs.
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Q & A with Dog Handler Expert, Sam Pepenella Part 2
Scared Monkeys continues with Part 2 of our interview and Q&A with Sam Pepenella, cadaver dog expert. Sam is a part of The K9 Forensic and Recovery Team and their information can be found here. The Team Members. Searches
Part 1 of the Q&A interview can be seen here.
The Q&A continues:
mskygirl wrote: Are the cadaver dogs similar to service animals. They work and then they are domestic pets around the home? Do they stay with you when you travel on a job or are they caged/kenneled?
Sam: When my girl is not working, she is very much the family pet at the house.
_scott wrote: How do your dog(s) indicate a hit?
Sam: Pending on what the handler decides for their K9, the alerts are different. On our team there are 4 K9′s and 2 different alerts. 3 sit and one lays down.
SunnyinTX wrote: To what depth can the dog find the scent….speaking about at the landfill or buried in the sandy soil…and if the body was wrapped in plastic would that impeded their being able to detect the decomp scent?? Thanks, Sunny
Sam: Sonny, There are many factors effecting what a cadaver K9 can and cannot detect. To what depth: It is not necessarily what depth but what has come to the surface. The gasses rise and that is what the K9′s detect. Often a tree will soak up the nutrients and dispel them in the air. It is not uncommon for the K9′s to “bark up a tree”. Does the plastic effect the chance of detection? Well it can but many of victims have been found in plastic wrap……so …
Q & A with Dog Handler Expert, Sam Pepenella Part 1
Scared Monkeys would like to thank Sam Pepenella, K9 expert, for joining us this evening and helping us learn more about dog handling and search & rescue in general. Also, his experiences in Aruba dealing with the Natalee Holloway search.
Lets all be gracious to him and each other and listen as well as ask questions.
Next Thursday, August 25, 2005 we will have the President of NNDDA as well!
THolloway wrote: How can the dogs differentiate between human remains and other scents? Are they a special breed? Any comment on their training regimen?
Sam: Training…..Training……Training……HRD or Human Remain Dogs must be trained on deceased Human scent. They must be taught to tell the difference between a decomposing body from an animal. There are several chemical compositions which make up decomposition. Dogs noses are so sensitive they can pick these smells up. When they detect the decomposition smell, they give a trained alert.
mrs. red wrote: Hi Sam, Thanks for coming on…. is there a particular breed of dog that is better suited to this type of work?
Sam: Yes there is. Generally there are certain types of dogs suited for this type of work. I work a German Shepherd due to their stamina and all around. There are several more types suited for search work, being the Belgin Malinois, Australian Shepherd, Dutch Shepherd, Labs etc. most of your herding type dogs. There are limitations to all types of dogs, and careful consideration must be made in selecting the right K9
