"That Others May Live"

Meet Our Team : Matt Denny

Position : K9 Handler, Evaluations Director

K9(s) : Ripley (retired)

Matt began his exciting hobby of emergency response at the age of 16 when he became a volunteer firefighter. After training for a brief time as a firefighter, Matt realized that he really wanted to help more, so he became an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) by the age of 17. He volunteered at Abingdon Fire Company as a firefighter EMT from that point on, and he is still an active member with them. In 1998, at the age of 19, Matt was watching the news with his mother and realized a couple of Boy Scouts were missing at the Broad Creek Scout Camp. A massive search had begun. As an Eagle Scout and a firefighter/EMT, Matt felt an obligation to go and assist (later, Matt realized how much more complicated he made the search by attending the search without any formal training and without an invitation). Upon arrival at the scene, Matt was fortunate enough to meet members of Mason-Dixon Rescue Dogs (MDRD). This was the time he fell in love with search and rescue (SAR) work, and more specifically K9 SAR. The most important thing about the evening was that the lost scouts were found safely. MDRD was very honored to participate in the search that evening, and is happy that the result was so positive. Since then, Matt has been volunteering with MDRD and in 1999 he acquired Ripley, his K9 partner from Virginia. Ripley's owners had brought her to the US from Germany and they had to give her up due to a lifestyle change. The bond between Matt and Ripley was immediate and they still love what they do. Today, Ripley is an operational wilderness SAR K9. Matt hopes to advance her training in water search and urban/disaster search.