National Search Dog Alliance
1302 Waugh Drive, Suite #121
Houston, Texas 77019

NSDA Executive Board Members

Sue C. Wolff, President, Tennessee

Sue Wolff began in SAR in 1994 as base support and has years of experience in many SAR fields including K-9 SAR.  She is co-founder of Tennessee Special Response Team-A, Inc. (TN SRT-A), a non-profit 501(c)(3) SAR organization.  She serves as K-9 trainer in Area as well as Land and Water Human Remains Detection.  She is also Secretary/Treasurer of the Team.  Presently she is Editor of the National Search Dog Alliance (NSDA) Newsletter. 

Sue is a NASAR SARTECH™ I/Crew Leader III; SARTECH™ II Evaluator; Canine SARTECH™ III (Area & Trailing) Evaluator; Canine SARTECH™ HRD (Land) Evaluator; and a Certified Incident Commander.  She is a DOT Medical First Responder and has an FCC Technician Amateur Radio Operator license, KF4HXT.  She is a member of and K-9 Search Manager for Tennessee Task Force 5.

 

 

Terry Crooks, Vice-President, Montana

Terry has twenty-five (25) years of search and rescue experience.  Seventeen (17) of these have been as a K-9 trainer/handler.  His three SAR K-9’s, Jess, Cima and Avy, have successfully worked in avalanche, water, HRD, evidence and tracking/trailing.  His experiences have included law enforcement criminal assistance as well as lost and missing persons.  With Cima, Terry responded to Hurricane Katrina with a Federal DMORT team and was assigned in Mississippi.

Terry is a Coordinator/Evaluator with NASAR and coordinated the development of the NASAR K-9 Avalanche Responder testing criteria.  He has served as a speaker numerous times at the NASAR Conferences and as a speaker/trainer at various SAR K-9 workshops and conferences.  He is currently a K-9 handler and Mountain Unit Leader for David Thompson Search and Rescue.  He is a past president of David Thompson Search and Rescue and also of Western Montana Search Dogs.

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Sherry Scruggs, Secretary, Florida

Sherry Scruggs has fourteen (14) years SAR experience.  She is known for working Labrador retrievers but has added German shorthaired pointers to her team.  She has NASAR certified dogs in area, HRD land and water.  She has worked with local law enforcement as well as the FBI in several states including her native Florida.  Sherry became a Coordinator for NASAR in 2002 and has administered field tests in all disciplines except disaster.  She is presently a member of Marion County Fire Rescue.

Sherry is a graduate of the University of Florida with a degree in Animal Science.  She began working for the University twenty-nine (29) years ago devoting most of her career to large and small animal surgery at the College of Veterinary Medicine.  The last nine (9) years have been spent as a manager of the animal research facilities at the University.

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Norma Snelling, Treasurer, Washington

After eighteen (18) years as a volunteer Sheriff’s Deputy in California, Norma started the first of her four dogs with the California Rescue Dog Association (CARDA) in 1989.  She later served as both Secretary and President of CARDA.

Norma has worked on county, state and FBI searches over the years and has certified dogs in the areas of area, water, cadaver, evidence and tracking.  She has been a team member of six different county teams in two states.  Norma is a past member of the NASAR Board of Directors and a former NASAR Western Field Projects Coordinator, a position which covered dog issues and testing for the western United States.  She remains a NASAR testing coordinator.

Norma is one of the founders of NSDA.

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Cameron Daggett, Idaho

Cam Daggett has been active in SAR work since 1980 and active with K-9 SAR since 1986.  In 2003, the Blaine County K-9 SAR Unit under the Sheriff’s SAR team was formed and he was appointed the unit leader, a position that he still holds.  They have fourteen (14) dogs that work avalanche in the winter, six (6) of which continue to work year round in area search, trailing, & Human Remains Detection.  He has assisted in developing all of their local standards and participated in forming the NSDA K-9 Avalanche criteria.

Cam has lived and worked in southern Idaho since 1974 in as area known as the Woodriver Valley.  This area is generally recognized as the home of the world famous Sun Valley Ski Resort.  He came to the area a few years after college and soon became a police officer for the City of Sun Valley.  He worked his way through the ranks and became the Chief of Police in 1986.  He is still employed in that capacity.

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Cris Goodhue, Montana

Cris Goodhue has been training dogs for over twenty-five (25) years.  She worked as a veterinary technician for over fifteen (15) years before training search dogs.  During this time, she taught dog obedience for over ten (10) years.  In 1991, she began training/handling search and rescue dogs.  Since that time, she has trained and certified her dogs in trailing, air scent, cadaver, HRD, water, evidence, avalanche, disaster and narcotics.  Over the past nine (9) years, she has taught search and rescue seminars throughout the western United States, assisting numerous dog teams in training and certifying their own dogs.

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Jacob Weaver, Georgia

Jacob Weaver is a K-9 handler and Vice President for Dogs South K-9 Search and Rescue Inc.  He has been a K-9 handler for the past eight (8) years.

Jacob currently handles a NNDDA Certified Cadaver dog as well as a disaster/wilderness air scent rescue canine.  He also has experience in tactical apprehension training, tracking, narcotics and obedience.  He is an AKC CGC evaluator and has trained over 75 canines through his obedience program.

Jacob has worked with agencies such as GBI, FBI, FDLE, GEMA, FEMA, US Marshal, FAA, USCG, DNR, and many local, state and other governmental agencies.  He is also a certified EMT and Firefighter as well as trained in crash victim extrication and as a rescue specialist.  He has been a veterinary technician for the past four years where he focuses on trauma and emergency care for canine and feline.

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Larry Welker, Alabama

Larry Welker has been involved in K-9 SAR since 1999.  His experience includes active searches and his efforts as support while he and his first Airscent K-9, River, were in training.  He is currently a Search Dog Handler with the North Alabama Search Dog Association (NASDA) and he is NASDA’s Treasurer.  He has served as a Board Member for the Canine Search and Recovery (CSAR) organization and is CSAR’s interim Treasurer. 

He has been a member of the peer review team for the NSDA Area Standard, is a member of the Water Recovery Team Standard Committee and is the Chairman of the NSDA Network Committee.  He serves as the moderator for the NSDA Podcast programs on team training that air live on the internet monthly.  He is a NASAR SAR Tech II and both of his Labrador Retrievers are NASAR SAR Tech III Wilderness Canines.
 
Larry is a retired U.S. Marine and is an Eagle Scout.  He is the Troop Committee Chairman of Boy Scout Troop 221 in Salem, Alabama.  He is an avid outdoorsman, an Amateur Radio Operator, K9LEW, an AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluator, and a member of the Alabama Association of Rescue Squads (AARS).

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Dee Wild, Louisiana

Dee Wild has over twenty-five (25) years experience training dogs.  She co-founded LaSAR in 1989 along with Lisa Higgins and has served as Director of Training since the Team’s inception.  She is an instructor of land cadaver, water recovery, air scent and tracking/trailing and has presented at seminars in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Dee has a NASAR SARTECH™ II certification.  She and Sky have obtained their NASAR Canine SARTECH™ III certification in Area Search as well as  Land and Water Human Remains Detection.  Dee was a Coordinator for the NASAR Canine SARTECH™ program and is a past NASAR SAR Dog Section Chair.  She and her canine partners Maggie and Spice, both deceased, and her current K-9 Sky have responded to over 175 searches where they were requested by local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Arizona and Canada.

Dee is a member of the Federal DMORT Region VI Team, Louisiana Mass Fatalities Task force and a member of the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office as well as St. Tammany Fire Protection No. 1.  She has authored or co-authored several articles and a book chapter on water search and recovery.

Dee had the dream of a national organization devoted solely to SAR K-9s and is the force behind the creation of NSDA.  She is one of its founders and is a life member.

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NSDA Advisory Board Members

Susan Bulanda, Pennsylvania
Advisory Board, June 2009-May 2010

Susan Bulanda is a certified canine and feline behavior consultant and long time SAR dog expert.  She has written a number of books and hundreds of articles.  She piloted two programs at Kutztown University, the Canine Training and Management Program for students who want to become dog trainers and the Canine Behavior Program for students who want to become behavior consultants.  She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Education.  She has been a SAR K-9 handler and trainer since 1981.  She is the Head trainer for the Phoenixville Fire Dept. K9 Search & Rescue Unit and is a Senior Conformation Judge for United Kennel Club.

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Mary Jane Boyd, Texas
Advisory Board-June 2009-May 2010

Mary Jane Boyd served as a Board Member and Treasurer of the inaugural NSDA Board.  She has been involved in canine search and rescue since 1998.  Currently she serves on the NSDA Advisory Board and as the Liaison for the Area Search Committee to the NSDA Board of Directors

In September 2000, she founded K-9 Search and Rescue of Texas where she still serves as Training Coordinator.

She has trained and certified three Labradors, Beau, Pete and Rio, in the disciplines of area search, human remains detection and first responder disaster.  Her girls, Millie and Oyote, are keeping her busy training to step into the boy’s shoes.

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Lisa Higgins, Louisiana
Advisory Board, June 2009-May 2010

Lisa Higgins is a nationally certified Human Remains Detection canine handler who has responded to over 300 searches across the United States; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Puerto Rico with her canine partners.  She works regularly for the Forensic Canine Program, Evidence Response Team Unit, for the FBI.  She is one of two handlers qualified as an "Expert" in canine body recovery in New Orleans Criminal Courts.  Lisa has worked in law enforcement since 1982 with St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office.  She is a SSgt. with the Special Operations Division serving with the Mounted Division and K-9 SAR units.  She is a member of the Federal DMORT Region VI Team and Louisiana Mass Fatalities Taskforce.  Lisa has also co-authored several articles and a book chapter on water search and recovery.  A tribute to her Labrador, Molli, is on the NSDA website

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Marcia Koenig, Washington
Advisory Board June 2009-May 2010

Marcia Koenig has been involved in volunteer search dog work since 1972.  She is a founding member of Northwest Disaster Search Dogs (NDSD) and King County Search Dogs and a member of the Region 10 DMORT task force.  Marcia's search dog experience ranges from disaster search (tornado damage, Wichita Falls, TX; KAL airliner crash, Guam; Kona Village apartment fire, Bremerton, WA) to wilderness, snow, water, cadaver and trailing searches. A tribute to her German shepherd, Coyote, is on the NSDA webpage

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Carol Ann Namur, Quebec
Advisory Board, June 2009-May 2010

In 1975, to address the lack of emergency programs in Quebec municipalities, Carol Ann Namur founded the Sauvetage Canada Rescue volunteer group.  Their goal is to save lives through education, prevention and rescue.  She manages and oversees the training of 450 people who assist responsible authorities in emergency situations.  Thanks to her determination and leadership, the volunteer, self- financed group has teams in several provinces ready to act day and night to help find people who are lost or missing, to lend a hand during a disaster or to provide first aid services at community events.

Carol Ann Namur is President Director General of SCR  Emergency Measures Consultants, PDG The Volunteer Groups Sauvetage Canada Rescue, and Provincial Volunteer Coordinator of the “Programme de gestion des bénévoles en recherche et sauvetage de la Sûreté du Québec". 

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Robert Noziska, Texas
Advisory Board June 2009-May 2010

Robert Noziska currently is an Operator for Headquarters/Special Operations Group for the United States Border Patrol.  For the past ten years, Agent Noziska has been assigned to the special operations unit known as BORSTAR (Border Search Trauma and Rescue).  He assisted in founding and implementing the BORSTAR Canine Program for the United States Border Patrol in 2001.  Agent Noziska is a Master Trainer for North American Police Work Dog Association.  He has given presentations on numerous canine topics nationally, strengthening existing SAR K-9 Teams. 

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Arthur E. Wolff, Tennessee
Advisory Board June 2009-May 2010

Arthur E. (Art) Wolff has been involved in Search and Rescue since 1975.  He has conducted searches and taught various aspects of SAR on several continents.  He helped co-found Florida Special Response Team-A and Tennessee Special Response Team-A, both of which are canine based SAR Teams.  He is a Law Enforcement Canine Trainer as well as having helped develop NASAR’S Canine Testing Criteria. 

Art has been a Post Certified Law Enforcement Officer since 1978, having spent years in a major agency’s Criminal Investigations Division as well as in Canine.  He blends years of his SAR and his Law Enforcement experience into his teaching and training. 

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