20/11/2023
Safety for you and your dog(s) around the homeless camps in rural areas as well as urban areas.
Over the last 5 years I've seen a huge increase in homeless camps both in the urban areas as well as in rural areas.
During COVID, 80% of our searches were for folks who committed su***de. 10% were missing hikers, hunters, people with mental health issues not involving su***des. 10% were for dead bodies. 90% of everyone we looked for had either drug or alcohol issues.
Then we started seeing our dogs and handlers being affected by the Fentanyl and opioid parafernalia that we literally had to walk through during our searches.
Practice safety. Of course, never search these areas without being armed. Bear mace, fi****ms, and of course NARCAN.
As I approach each camp area, I would have one person (safety person) Hold onto my SAR Dogs. I would then enter and announce that we were with SAR, we're not police officers, and why were there. "Example" Hi we're from Search and Rescue searching for a reported missing person named JOHN Q SMITH. We're bringing in our SAR dogs through this area. Please keep your dogs secure during this search so we don't have any issues. Thank you".
This is showing these folks were not the police, we're not here to arrest anyone or harass them. We're only here to do a quick search for someone and we'll be out of their hair.
For the most part, folks were receptive. We did have two incidents where we were threatened with machetes and other weapons. This why we go armed.
I'm always respectful but I also have a job to do and don't tolerate idiots or their actions.
After the search, we wash the dog's pads off, and wipe their noses with a wash rag. Also clean the bottom of our feet before getting into our SAR vehicles.
Two weeks ago I had to walk through 26 homeless folks actively shooting up, and smoking opioids. By letting them know what we were doing, we only had to stop during our search once while one other homeless person was busy assaulting another.
Be careful out there. It's becoming a much more dangerous world for us involved in searching for the missing.
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