Owner's Name
Cynthia

City And State
Los Angeles, Ca

Why is your dog a hero?
Roxy is an 11-year-old mixed shepherd mutt mutt. She has worked for the LAFD FEMA team as a live human scent search and rescue canine for the past 9 years, and is getting ready to retire in a few months. As a hard-working member of the department, she has been deployed to work a number of times, including a hillside collapse in the Hollywood Hills and a structure collapse in Century City. In 2018, she was deployed to the Montecito mudslide, where she searched for 5 days, covering miles of dirt and debris. On her off time, she played with and snuggled homesick firefighters, wanting to return home from the devastation. As her handler, she also came with me to UCLA where I taught at the paramedic school, and she gave comfort to the stressed-out paramedic students and played with anyone willing to throw a toy thousands of times in one go. We've been through a lot together, and though she doesn't want to retire, she's ready. Climbing rubble in the rain and heat, inside buildings, and through mud and dirt is starting to get tough for her aging bones. At home, she has been with me through 4 houses, a new human dad and stepbrother, adopted two other pups into our family, and lovingly welcomed her new human baby brother last year.