About SARTEC K-9

  SARTEC K-9 is an all volunteer unit based in Madison County, North Alabama. The Unit can assist in searches for missing persons (alive or deceased) in wilderness and urban settings, using certified air scent, trailing and HRD dogs. Our team members receive training in search operations and theory, traditional search methods, lost person behavior, crime scene preservation and many other topics! Although SARTEC K-9 is based in Madison County in North Alabama, we will respond to many surrounding areas outside of our county at the request of the local, state, or federal first responder agencies. We are also a member of the Alabama Association of Rescue Squads (AARS) and can be deployed via a mutual aid agreement from other local rescue squads.

The team typically trains every Tuesday evening, 6:30-9pm and alternating Saturday/Sunday mornings, 9am-1pm. Most Tuesday trainings are within 30 minutes of Huntsville, while weekend trainings are usually within 1.5 hours of Huntsville.

 All dogs have a sense of smell that is 10,000-100,000 times better than a human’s. Therefore, any dog with a drive to work can be trained for search and rescue work. For our live find dogs, we do recommend your K9 partner be a minimum of 40 lbs. for safety reasons. We also recommend your dog not be older than 5yo when first starting out, so that you and your dog have plenty of working time once trained. Some of our current team dog breeds include Belgian Malinois, German Shepherd, Dalmatian, Black Labrador and Border Collie. While working dogs are stereotypically more naturally suited to be a working dog, not all working breed dogs end up having the drive for work, and often non-typical dogs can have the drive. Come check out our team, and we can arrange for an evaluation of you and your dog!

At Sartec K9 Unit, we believe that education is key to protecting wildlife and their habitats. We offer a variety of educational programs for all ages, including school visits, community events, and workshops.  

For any prospective new dog handlers, we ask that you come to at least one training without your dog. This will allow you to learn more about what we do, and how the dogs and teams work. Once you’ve attended a training, we’ll ask you to bring your dog the next time you attend, and we’ll perform an evaluation of you and your dog, and start developing a training plan for you. If you decide to pursue K9 SAR with our team, once you attend 8 trainings within 60 days, you can apply for team membership. If you’re voted on, you will need to attend a minimum of 2 trainings a month to remain in active status.

  We are strictly a volunteer based organization and do not charge for any training performed by our team! We do incur our own personal costs in terms of equipment, AARS dues, training seminars and annual certifications. We also do not generally get reimbursed for any costs incurred on deployments. The team does fundraise and apply for grants to offset the lager costs, such as bringing in outside trainers for seminars and obtaining the more expensive team equipment. All spendings incurred due to your volunteer work and involvement in SARTEC are tax deductible! 

 Please dress appropriately. You will likely be hiking through the woods in potentially rough terrain. We recommend sturdy pants and hiking boots. If you don’t have boots yet, at least wear comfortable closed toes shoes. You will also need to bring plenty of water for your time at training. This is especially important during the summer, but still needed during the cooler times. Check the weather before training and dress accordingly. We will train when it is safe, including during the summer heat, winter cold and rain events that do not include lightning. We will not train if there are excessive heat warnings, or it is too far below freezing to be safe. The team will provide you with a radio, as well as any items you might not have (i.e. flashlights, extra layers, chair, etc.) As a hider, we also recommend you bring some form of entertainment, such as a book or an extra battery for your phone!

At Sartec K9 Unit, we are dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating wildlife in need. Our goal is to provide the best possible care for injured or orphaned animals, and to release them back into the wild once they are healthy and strong.  

If you’ve been asked to bring your dog to training, there are a few extra items to think about! At a minimum, you will need a leash and a reward. Your reward can be a favorite toy and/or snack. We also recommend a harness to be used ONLY for SAR work, but this isn’t required, especially for the evaluations. 

Your pup will remain in your car or a crate at base they are taking a potty break or working. As such, ensure you have a safe way to contain your dog in your car, or bring a collapsible crate that can be setup outside. We will ALWAYS have someone at base keeping an eye on dogs not in the field.

 In addition to our weekly team trainings, there are several other trainings and certifications required to obtain for the team. 

For the dogs, each dog should either have or be working towards the AKC Canine Good Citizen certification. They must also maintain their rabies vaccination and provide proof of vaccination to the team. 

For the humans, they should either have or be working towards the following:

1) FEMA ICS courses IS-100, IS-200, IS-700 and IS-800

2) Basic First Aid certification, to include CPR

3) Canine first aid training

4) Hazard Materials training

5) Blood Borne Pathogens training

6) Crime Scene Preservation

SARTEC will either provide opportunities for these trainings, or can direct you to resources in order to obtain the training.

Membership of SARTEC can be obtained by any person 19 years of age or older. All individuals will start as a SARTEC “Candidate”, during which they will be evaluated by the board members or other appointed trainers. Candidates may apply for official membership to SARTEC once they have attended 8 trainings in a period of 60 days, and have been evaluated by a board member for suitability. Candidates may be nominated by any current voting member of SARTEC, and will then be voted on by all active team members at a team meeting. A two-thirds vote of a team quorum is needed to be approved. If approved, the candidate will be a “probationary” member for 60 days before becoming an official voting member of the team. Active members of the team must attend a minimum of 2 trainings per month to remain active. 

Deployable teams must be active members of SARTEC. You must also obtain a national certification for your dog, at a level the operations officer feels is relevant to our typical deployments. We will also have quarterly pre-certification evaluations of each certified team to maintain deployment status. At SARTEC K9 Unit, we believe that education is key to protecting wildlife and their habitats. We offer a variety of educational programs for all ages, including school visits, community events, and workshops.