View Archives2008 Hernandez Canine Sponsorship Recipient - Susan Hobson
The National Search Dog Alliance and Kai Thompson Hernandez
are pleased to announce the award of the 2008 Hernandez Search Dog Sponsorship to Susan Hobson of California. NSDA is very pleased and honored to be able to partner with Mrs. Kai Thompson
Hernandez to present this sponsorship.
Susan Hobson was chosen after thorough review of all applications. Susan has been involved in canine search and rescue since 2002 and is a member of California Rescue Dog Association, Tehama County SAR K-9 Team.
This sponsorship was established to honor the memory of Kai's deceased husband, Glen Thompson, who was killed during the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001. It also honors the others who lost their lives as well as all those who responded and conducted searches in the aftermath of the attack on our country.
Kai has said that she was so touched, impressed and appreciative of all who responded that she wanted to give something back. She was especially drawn to the search canines and their handlers who responded and put themselves at risk in their attempts to help. She knows that there is a great deal of time and personal expense borne by the canine handlers. This sponsorship is one of her ways of saying THANK YOU and helping ensure that there continues to be qualified handlers and canines.
Award Winner Profile
Susan Hobson has been in search and rescue for over ten years. She is a member of California Rescue Dog Association (CARDA) and the local team in Tehama County. This team has been Mission Ready with the state of California since 2002. Her golden retriever, Roscoe, has achieved type one for the State of California in both Area and Human Remains Detection.
Roscoe is Susan’s second dog and he will be seven (7) this year. In order to have a new dog ready in two years when he retires, she needs to begin training one now. Aware of the time and commitment it takes to train a SAR dog to certification, she sees the necessity of starting to work as soon as possible.
Susan is a restarted nurse working in ICU. In her application, she says, “I feel that bringing home the lost goes hand in hand with my personal goal of saving of lives. I take my commitments very seriously and will do everything in my power to bring a new dog to the fullest potential.”
Update 05/05/09
Susan will be bringing her puppy home on May 18th.