- The Bloodhound Training Seminar started with the collaboration with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Jimmy Ryce Center.
- 20 teams from five different states came to train their dogs to find missing people in all different types of environments.
- This year, 13 of the teams at the seminar are Jimmy Ryce donated Bloodhounds.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
I'm Ashley Engle here in Havana at the Florida Public Safety Institute. I spoke with one K-9 handler who came here all the way from Texas and he tells me, he can't imagine doing anything else.
"We're having an absolute blast learning as much as we can."
This is K-9 Officer Nick Short and his partner Fuze. He says that his law enforcement team is one of few in central Texas that have Bloodhounds.
The Florida Public Safety Institute at Tallahassee Community College is hosting its 16th annual Bloodhound Tracking Seminar.
"We have seen so many new things that we could do with our blood hounds"
This year, Short and 20 teams from five different states came to train their dogs to find missing people in all different types of environments ranging from the woods, to urban areas and swamp related conditions.
"It is extremely important for these teams to train in all environments to prepare when tragedy strikes, and we need to call to action.
Janet Hartman, the Executive Director of The Florida Department Safety Institute tells me that the program started with the collaboration with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Jimmy Ryce Center.
Jimmy Ryce was a 9-year-old boy who was abducted and murdered on his way to school on September 11th, 1995. For three months, his parents led a massive search.
Now, The Ryce Center provides Bloodhounds free to law enforcement to find abducted and lost children.
This year, 13 of the teams at the seminar are Jimmy Ryce donated Bloodhounds.
"Bloodhounds are known for finding people. They are truly important not only for finding missing children, which was our focus earlier in the week for missing children's day but also finding dementia patients."
Lead Instructor David Lovell is here from Brevard County. He tells me that being able to see the dogs learn new skills is great to see knowing that they will be able to make a difference in communities across the country.
"Seeing the development, you get to see the improvement from all the handlers and all the dogs and how they come up through the week and see how better they are at the end of the week and how much better the handlers are at the end of the week."
At the end of all of this, handlers like Short know, that they will be able to save lives and bring people back together
"Feels wonderful to reconnect those lost and missing people with their families"
So far the program has been going on for 16 years and they hope that participation continues to increase in order to make a difference when it comes to finding people. In Havana, Ashley Engle, ABC 27
