"That Others May Live"

When someone is reported lost or overdue Mason Dixon Rescue Dogs (MDRD) is available to provide highly trained Air Scent K-9 teams to the responsible agency on a 24 hour basis. MDRD is a volunteer search and rescue unit that trains canine teams for many situations.

MDRD is a member of a National organization, the American Rescue Dog Association (ARDA). ARDA was formed in 1972 in Washington State and New Jersey. Since that time units have been added in 14 states and provinces. All ARDA units are required to pass a full unit evaluation every three years by outside evaluators. At this time the units' search management skills, base camp operations, and K-9 teams are evaluated against the national standards. The outside evaluation is unique to ARDA and exists to insure that the search teams that are provided have passed the most rigorous and exacting standards. This evaluation guarantees that any ARDA team called to a search scene will be able to respond in uniform in a consistent fashion.  For more information on ARDA, please visit their website at www.ardainc.org.