We aren't cheap but you are getting 29 years of
professional K9 SAR experience. I haven't raised our
prices in 19 years.
We aren't a member of the Better Business Bureau,
but we do hold an A plus rating with them.
Note: I have two search dogs. I'm only allowed to
fly with one in cabin. Because of this, I do not
have a credible dog sitter that I can trust to leave
my other SAR dog with while I respond to private
searches on the east coast, or mid west calls, this
means I drive to most of my searches.
The cost? Unless you are willing to hire a PRIVATE
JET which costs thousands of dollars so I may fly
both SAR Dogs in cabin, I will be driving.
I charge $25.00 dollars per hour driving time each
way. (Round trip) So go to map quest, Map quest from
Longview, Washington to your location.
Example: Longview, Wa. to Seattle. 6 hours round
trip x $25.00 = $150.00 (Must take in consideration
(rush hour traffic-construction etc)
Then ad the cost of fuel 128 miles each way x 2
(round trip) = 256 miles divide by one / third (Cost
of fuel) = $86.00
Meals $40.00 per day.
Search time $200.00 per hour. (96% of my searches
last one hour or less). 1 hour x 200 =$200.00
Total owed $476.00 then if you are paying by credit
card (We don't accept checks of any kind). Cash or
credit card payments only. You must ad the paypal or
credit card fee of .0459%
.0459% x $476.00 =$22.00
Total bill will be $498.00
If you are asked to make a deposit before we
respond, you may then go to our web site at
www.k9sardog.com click on "Donate or Payment"
button. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page
where you'll see a credit card button. Click on this
and it takes you directly to our PayPal account.
There you must make your payment in full. (Only
after you have requested and received our contract
and have completed it and sent it back.
If the trip is longer then 4 hours each way, I may
ad a night stay at a motel. (Ad $120.00) per night
of stay.
NOTE: If you live in the midwest or east coast,
Please feel free to email me directly for
assistance.
sardogk91@aol.com
Please do not CALL MY OFFICE BEFORE 1200 PM your
time which is 0900hrs. Pacific Coast Time.
And do NOT ask me if we have any SAR teams on the
east coast that search for lost pets, we don't.
There are NO Credible SAR Dog teams that search for
pets on the East or SE coast or mid west at this
time.
We respond from the West coast. |
We average 550 to 750 SAR Call requests a year for
missing persons and lost pets. I do consulting work
with an 85% success rate for $20.00.
The average costs for pet searches by city. Cities
we respond to on a regular basis.
Vancouver, Washington & Portland, Oregon 2
hrs driving time (round trip from Longview, Wa.)
$50.00, Fuel $35.00, 1 meal $10., Search time
$200.00, Credit card fee $14.00. Totals: $309.00
Moscow, Idaho. 15 hours Driving time from Longview,
Wa. $375.00, 1 night motel $150.00, 808 miles driven
$270.00 fuel, search time 1 hr $200.00 meals x 6
=$80.00, Credit card fee $48.00 = $1,123.
San Fransisco, Ca. 25 hours driving time from
Longview, Wa. $625.00, 2 nights motels $300.00, 1363
miles fuel $460.00, meals x 3 days $120.00
search time $200.00, credit card fee $75.00 =
$1,780.00
Reno, Nevada. 1254 miles round trip $420.00
fuel, 24 hours driving time round trip $500.00, 2
nights motel $300.00, 6 meals $120.00, search time
$200.00 $1480 credit card fee $68.00 Totals:
$1608.00
Los Angeles, Ca. 48 hours driving time round
trip $1200.00, 2,050 miles round trip fuel $685.00,
Motel x 3 = $450.00, meals x 4 days $160.00, Search
time $200.00 = $2699.00 credit card fee $120.00
=$2815.00
Bozeman, Montana. 30 hours driving time round
trip $750.00, fuel 1570 miles round trip =$530.00,
motels x 3 = $450.00, Search time $200.00, Meals 4
days $160.00 = $2,090.00 credit card fee $90.00
=$2,180.00
Fort Carson, Colorado. 2750 miles round trip,
fuel $925.00, 48 hours driving time $1200.00, motel
450.00, meals x 4 days $160.00, Search time $200.00,
=$2,845.00, Credit card fee $130.00 Totals:
$3,066.00
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20 years ago I was asked to write this article for a
pet magazine about how to travel with your pet
safely. Here’s an updated version.
Fact:
I.K.9.S.A.R.S. receives between 500 and 750 calls
each year regarding missing persons and lost pets
from around the world.
During the holidays our calls increase involving the
search for pets and sometimes people who disappear
from accident scenes. The main reason is that people
are often traveling on icy, wet, snowy roads and
become involved in MVA’s. (Motor Vehicle Accidents).
With this many calls, I’ve documented a 99% success
rate of either determining what really happened to
the driver, and their human and animal passengers in
the vehicle(s) involved in the MVA.
Some are picked up and transported to a nearby
hospital or vet clinic. Others are taken away from
the scene never to be heard from again. Most people
and pets are still on scene when EMS, Fire, and
Police arrive on the scene.
What about the pets? 90% of the pets are still
inside the vehicle. 5% are ejected or trapped inside
the vehicle and they are found seriously injured or
killed because their owners think ahead and fit them
for a seat belt or place them in a travel kennel.
Think about this. A vehicle traveling at 55 mph
means your 5lbs or 55 lbs pet is also traveling at
55 mph. Upon impact you now have a 5lbs or 55 lbs
missile. Often the pet strikes the driver or
passengers injuring or killing both the driver,
passenger, and pet.
Fact: Seat belts for pets have been around for over
30 years. You can buy a harness at Pet smart, Petco,
or other pet store or order them online. Never
secure your pet by a collar. If there is a sudden
impact you can kill your pet. The collar will snap
its neck or injure its throat causing it to
suffocate from traumatic injuries.
In fact we don’t even allow our search dogs to wear
collars anymore. We lost two from choking to death
from collars. One got caught on a fence the other on
another dog’s jaw while playing. Both were
supervised during the incident and were not able to
be saved. Thus, no more collars for any reason.
Our dogs are all micro-chipped, and their id, rabies
tags, and county license tags are all connected to
their harness.
You are required by law to seat belt your two legged
children. Why wouldn’t you seat belt your four
legged children? In many states it’s the law. Yes
you can be issued a citation for not properly
securing your pet inside or outside the motor
vehicle (Bed of pick up). The days of allowing your
pet to ride freely in the back of the pick up or
loose inside your vehicle are over. And it’s a good
thing. This protects you, your passengers and the
pets.
For photos of how we suggest you secure your pet(s)
in a seat belt are viewed on our web site at:
http://www.k9sardog.com/dogsafety.html
Make sure you allow enough room in your seat belt
system for the pet to stand up, stretch, turn around
and lay down again. When you stop at a rest stop,
restaurant, or for any other break, remember to
unlock your pet from their seat belt system so they
can get up and stretch.
TRAVEL KENNELS: (Examples) https://www.pettravelcenter.com/collections/hard-shell-pet-carriers.
While it’s not a bad idea to secure your pet in a
travel kennel there’s some important things to
remember.
Make sure the kennel can be opened by either side of
the kennel. If not, take the nuts, bolts out of the
side molding and restring the holes with parachute
cord. Duct tape a pocket knife to the kennel (unless
the kennel is used in flying your pet). In the event
of a major accident and in the event the vehicle’s
back door’s or side doors can’t be opened due to
damage, the driver, or passenger can crawl back
there, cut the crate open by cutting the parachute
cord and free the pet immediately.
NOTE: Make sure you tied down the crate inside the
vehicle so it doesn’t fly through the air in the
event of a MVA.
Dog screens. Example: https://www.amazon.com/Bushwhacker-Barrier-Pending-Restraint-Backseat/dp/B0076BE458/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1482816813&sr=8-4&keywords=Vehicle+Dog+Screens
While this is an improvement, if the pet isn’t seat
belted it still can be killed or injured if not seat
belted in. Something to think about.
Before you travel:
Microchip your pets. In Portland, Oregon we get back
over 3000 pets a year from micro-chips. Once your
pet is chipped, please make sure you have the vet
scan the chip to see that is in place. Some migrate
and must be replaced.
Next, when you get home, get online and register
your pet’s chip and your emergency contact
information. Many folks forget to do this. So when
the animal is found, often the vet’s office or
animal control doesn’t know who the animal belongs
to.
When you register your pet’s emergency contact
information, it’s important to document your current
name, home address, and home and cellular phone #’s.
It’s important to register your information with the
microchip company and separately on a dog tag
attached to the harness. Note the next of kin, or an
emergency contact person’s name and phone number.
This is because if you are injured, dead, or can’t
be contacted for some reason, rescuers can contact
this person and find out what to do with your pet.
ID YOUR PET. It’s also not a bad idea to photograph
your pet from different angles. Comb out their fur,
place this information, a copy of their rabies
certificate, and shot records, your next of kin or
emergency contact information in an envelope
documented (I.C.E.) In Case of Emergency. Keep this
inside your vehicle next to your vehicle
registration. This will show any EMS, FIRE, or Law
enforcement employee what to do with your pet(s) in
the event of your death or injury. If the pet
becomes lost it gives experts like myself a scent
item for the search dog(s), a photo, and id
information on what your pet looks like to conduct
an immediate search.
Make sure you travel with extra pet food, water,
clean up bags, toys, and leashes for your pet(s).
Take a pet first aid kit and first aid class before
you go.
During travel. Plan ahead.
I’ve driven over 1,000,000 miles by vehicle to
respond around the USA to searches for missing
persons and lost, stolen pets. I’ve also flown over
a 1,000,000 miles with my search dogs flying IN
CABIN as my service animals under Federal
regulations to respond to international incidents.
Here’s what I’ve learned while driving. Plan ahead.
Make sure you reserve your camping sites, motels,
etc with animal friendly hotels, motels, camp sites.
When you get out at a rest stop, keep your pets on
leash. I carry a bite stick. This is a 3’ stick to
protect my dogs from aggressive dogs and their
stupid pet owners.
This way if my dogs are attacked, (which has
happened over 300 times during travel and searches)
I can ram the stick down the attacking dog’s throat,
giving it something to bite while I reach for my
mace, knife, stun gun, or firearm to end the attack.
(Make sure you research the state laws on use of
force and carrying weapons.
Out of over three hundred documented attacks, only
one dog made it past the stick and bit my dog. Most
are stopped when they see the stick coming at them.
Don’t hit the dog with the stick, ram the bite stick
into its mouth. This prevents injury to you and your
pet.
If your pet needs to take daily medications, flea
control, diabetes meds, etc. make sure you plan
ahead for this. Take a pet first aid course. Watch
for bites from animals, insects, spider, scorpions,
ticks, snakes, etc.
Note: FLEA COLLARS don’t work. Don’t waste your
money on them. Look at other flea and heartworm
protection. Watch out for diseases that can affect
your pet. Flu, parvo, distemper, etc.
Make sure your pet has shade in the summer and heat
during the winter.
After you have arrived at your destination: Give
your pet a break. Let them take care of person
business and then make sure they have plenty of
food, water, and shade.
What to do if you are involved in an MVA with your
pet.
First make sure you aren’t injured, if you are,
treat your injuries. Then rescue your pet(s). If you
are incapacitated, injured or killed that is why the
ICE info is present for your pet(s) to be rescued.
Train your children what to do in the event of an
MVA and if you are incapacitated.
Turn your four way flashers on. Turn your engine
off. Unhook your seat belt. Stay with your vehicle
if you can.
Fact: Most vehicles won’t catch on fire after an
accident. Working on scene of over 4,000 MVA’s as a
police officer and EMT, I’ve seen three vehicles
catch fire. It’s not like TV and Hollywood movies
which makes you believe every vehicle that runs into
something is going to catch fire. They won’t. But be
ready to get out if you can should the engine start
smoking. Unlock your seat belt, then your children,
and pets. If you must exit the vehicle, grab your
“GO BAG”. (View our ten essentials) for the “Go Bag”
contents. http://www.k9sardog.com/essentials.html
Keep your pet away from any leaking fluids from the
vehicles. Keep then on leash and treat them for
their injuries.
Stay out of oncoming traffic, Sit down, exchange
information as required by law.
If your pet is missing because you didn’t think
ahead of their safety, follow the guidelines below.
http://www.k9sardog.com/missing.html
Fact: 99% of the pets that run from an accident
scene stay within 300 yards of the scene. If they
are injured or can move they will want to get away
from the scene because it’s scary. Scary noises,
smells, broken glass, leaking fluids. Sirens,
strange people.
Once the animal calms down they will go back to the
site where they last saw their owners (Handlers). I
call them pet partners. If you are a volunteer
searching for someone’s lost pet please do the
following immediately.
Inspect the vehicle involved. Look under the seats
and under the dashboard. Make sure the pet isn’t
trapped under the seat or dashboard. In high speed
impacts this is a common place they get trapped
inside the vehicle.
Next walk the area with 100 yards. 99% will stay in
that area. Most will hide in briars, thick
vegetation. I’ve found most with 200 feet from the
accident scene hiding in the bushes while their
owners walked right over the top of them.
Don’t yell the pets name. It’s in shock. A pet can
hear your heart beat from several feet away under
ideal conditions. Imagine it’s injured, scared and
now strange people are yelling at it? The best thing
to do is once the vehicle has been cleared, sit down
after the police and vehicles have left the scene.
Set up a home away from home for the pet. A tent or
lean too.
Have the pet partners / owners leave something that
has their scent on it. Urine is the best thing to
have. Place it in a spray bottle then squirt the
area down. Once squirt every 6 feet the size of a
quarter. Dirty socks, hats, jackets, underwear work
well too.
Next, if you can bring the kennel or a kennel out to
the scene. Place it 100 yards away from the roadway
if you can. Place the partners scent inside and
around along with food, water, toys. Next post a
large 3’x3’”A” framed sandwich board sign with a
photo of the pet saying “Reward for safe return no
questions asked”. Then a contact phone # of a
rescuer involved in the search for the pet. If you
can, bring out a search dog.
Scent can be tracked for up to a year. Some animals
travel. About 2% decide to follow the ambulance or
head home. Dogs can travel up to 30 miles a day.
Cats can travel up to 9 miles a day on an average.
Ream more on how to find the lost pet by reading
this link: http://www.k9sardog.com/missing.html
If you find the pet, sit down immediately. Get down
on its level, bring out some food, water, and have a
picnic. I don’t care if your ass deep in snow, do
it. Let the pet come to you. This is what works.
There are times the animal is so in shock that you
must drug it. Talk to your local vet about
acepramizine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acepromazine
or Benadryl to calm the pet down.
If you can set up a motion detector GAME Camera.
https://www.google.com/#q=motion+detector+game+camera&tbm=shop
this can help you determine if the pet is coming
around and how often.
Look at a live trap if you can. Make sure you check
it twice a day.
Once recovered, captured make sure you have a
veterinarian examine it and treat it for any
injuries.
Good luck and happy travels.
Respectfully
Mr. Harry E. Oakes Jr.
K9 SAR Coordinator. |
This email in from jennifer Horman Osb.:
"Thank you for providing detailed info from your
website re: difference between pet detectives and
credible search n rescue ops.
Despite expressed reservations of many, last week a
friend hired Karin Tarqwyn Pet P.I. to find her lost
bull mastiff. Thus far she's done nothing but
isolate the dog owner from all the volunteers
previously helping out, we cannot confirm anything
she claims about herself, she's not even here in
Oklahoma but sent someone from Memphis with a couple
of dogs (they call this the "tracking team"). Though
that person only stayed out for an hour and would
not go into the woods so we could show her paw
prints, they now claim they found the prints & are
well on their way to finding the dog and are pawning
off my map of perimeter with locations as their own.
Would you say she fits into the pseudo-pet detective
category? Any adivce on how to stop the bleeding so
we can find the dog, get Karin outta here, and
salvage friends bank account?"
My response:
We get emails weekly from people who have used pet
detectives in LA, Ca. Ok City and Seattle Wa areas.
They are frustrated as these PET DETECTIVES mostly
trained from the MARS group
Won't provide them with a search contract so they
know ahead of time what they are getting ahead of
time. (What kind of services to expect). Won't let
them go on the searches with them. Won't supply them
with an after action search report to document for
court purposes should it come to that later on what
did happen to their pet and where.
This is why we strongly urge every one to check out
these people's references.
International K9 SAR Services are NOT pet
detectives. We are in fact real search and rescue K9
Tracking team that tracks both people and lost pets.
Recently a client in Shelton, Wa. spent money on a
pet detective who calls himself "3 labs K9 tracking
team": His search dog led the family all over the
place but didn't find the missing dog.
Then her husband hired us to come in. Our search
dogs tracked from their home right to the entrance
of the water treatment plant. Once the video was
inspected from the security cameras the dog was seen
going under the fence right where we tracked it to.
Sadly it had drowned in the holding pond there.
2014-9038-102(A). 03-98-2014 Lost dog Shelton, Wa.
Kathy Jones Walker Park Rd. Shelton WA Chanel Red
saluki with black muzzle, and black and white
markings.16 months old. Chip is AKC. red collar
w/black and gold trim Team; H. Oakes SAR Dog Willow
SAR Dog Tyler K-9-1. We were 100% on our track. Dog
found inside Shelton water treatment plant dead.
Drowned in pond.
So you get what you pay for. We provide contracts
before we respond so you know what to expect. We
have hundreds of references from 28 years of finding
missing people and lost pets posted on our web site.
We provide a receipt, invoice, and search report
after each search and we'll gladly testify in court
on your behalf should the need arise.
Harry Oakes
International K9 SAR Services.
Harry Oakes Search and Rescue (SAR) Coordinator.
sardogk91@aol.com
USING SEARCH DOGS TO FIND YOUR PET
Scent. All search dogs will pick up the freshest
scent of the animal, and track it instinctively. As
a human or animal walks along, it sheds
approximately 10,000 pieces of scent per minute.
This scent falls to the ground and stays there until
the wind and air currents move the scent to nearby
dirt, sand, brushy vegetation areas. The scent is
held there until it fully dissipates about a year
later. When an animal or human walks in one specific
direction it's laying down scent that the trained
search dog can track up to 365 days later, even in
the rain. Rain actually helps the scent. It brings
the scent closer to the ground surface, keeps the
search dogs nasal passages moist to help the dog
retain the scent, and it will liven the scent.
What hurts scent?
Heavy vehicle and human traffic contaminates the
scent. Heavy rains of 2" per day may wash the scent
down. Heat dries out the scent and the search dogs
nasal scent receptors making it harder for the
search dog to track. Cigarette smoke contains a
poisonous drug called Nicotine. Nicotine is an
anesthetizing agent that can numb up the search dogs
scent receptors by 95% and make the search dogs
basically useless. If you smoke around your pet, the
second hand cigarette smoke poison that you are
putting into their little lungs (Nicotine) can also
alter the missing pet's scent, and prevent a search
dog from tracking it. That's why all of our team
members are non-smokers. That's also why you are
never allowed to smoke around our search dogs or
their handlers. You are also exposing your pet to
many types of respiratory diseases and cancer.
Can search dogs track at night? Yes, of course we
can. In fact we prefer to track at night. Air
molecules stay lower to the ground at night and
there are fewer scents to contend with in the
evening.
False tracks. A false
track happens when the animal walks one specific
direction, then the pet owner or someone else, walks
on top of the pet's scent (usually in or around the
home). This transfers the pet's scent onto the
bottom of the person's footwear and when the person
walks or drives a different direction, this person
is now giving off a fresher scent of the missing pet
to track. This is called a false scent trail. There
is no way to prevent this from happening, it's a
fact of life. The only way that you can keep this
from happening, is to call Search and Rescue out
immediately before you do any looking, so as not to
contaminate the track.
What happens when the search dog tracks to a
specific location and we can't find our pet? This
happens on many of the tracks. The pet will walk to
a specific location and by the time we get called,
respond, and perform our track of the missing pet,
it has already been picked up by a well meaning
person to be cared for. The search dog will give you
a direction of travel of your missing pet and the
location of where your animal was picked up. You can
then post your lost pet posters in this area. 60% of
our clients get their pets back this way. This saves
you time, money, and works really well.
What if the search dog
tracks my pet to a specific location and we get
reports of sightings in a completely different area?
It is not unusual for someone who is well meaning to
pick up a lost animal. Soon the animal becomes too
much responsibility for the person to take care of.
They then may take it away from their own home and
let it go. Usually at a nearby park, school, or
business. They may take it back to where they found
it and set it free, hoping it will find its way back
home. Or the pet may just break free from the person
and try to find its way back home.
How do we know the search dogs track was accurate?
There is never a 100% guarantee that we'll find your
loved one. We'll give it our best efforts. A SEARCH
DOG doesn't know how to lie. That's why their
testimony in a court of law is accepted, with
training, testing, and mission documentation. A
search dog is trained to follow the track or trail
of the scent given to them by their dog handler. A
mutual trust exists between the dog handler and the
search dog. There a rare times where the search dog
ends up following a false track. This happens
approximately once in every 300 searches and it is
usually caused by cross contamination.
Harry Oakes started in SAR, May 1972. with Multnomah
County Sheriff’s Office with MCSO LE Post# 900 /
631. Portland, Ore.
1974-1977 US Army Military Police assisted in MAST
Medicvac’s.
1978 Worked as a SAR Coordinator with Morrow County
Sheriff’s Office in Heppner, Oregon.
1986 active member / instructor with Portland
Mountain Rescue and co-founded the search dog
program Oregon D.O.G.S. for the state of Oregon in
1986.
1987. Harry then founded the Non profit K9 SAR team
of Mountain
Wilderness Search Dogs.
1997 Founded the for profit professional
International K9 Search and Rescue Services.
Here's the break down of Harry’s SAR Calls. All
documented, and all accepted in the courts of law.
Reviewed and verified by the Oregon Department of
Justice.
Since 1986, I've received over 11,255 SAR calls around
the world. Again
all these cases are documented by date, times,
locations, names, places, agencies and have been
reviewed by the Dept of justice, local law
enforcement and other agencies and has been
authenticated.
Finding just one person alive or dead gives a search
dog handler credibility. Harry Oakes has a
documented 99% accuracy level at finding the victim
or determining what really happened to them and
where.
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