The Law and Search Dog Deployment

Legalities1 To an untrained eye, a search dog may appear to be any dog that can run around and possibly stumble across someone or something. If it were that easy, we'd see many more search dogs in service. To use an analogy, if a S.W.A.T. team had a perimeter set up and were waiting out a suspect, one wouldn't assume that anyone could do their job because they are just "standing around." It may appear the S.W.A.T. team is doing nothing, but they have a strategy and know what they are doing. They have maintained a high level of training and proficiency in order to respond appropriately when they are needed. You can imagine the legal ramifications of people pretending to be a S.W.A.T. team. Unbeknownst to many, the same holds true for search dogs.

In a search gone wrong, a victim and/or their family has the opportunity to sue nearly anyone involved in the search, including dog handlers. One way to help protect yourself is to have documented proof of proficiency. That is, certification from a qualified agency or organization that your dog can perform the duties it is undertaking.

Norm Lawson, a lawyer who has written numerous essays on avoiding legal problems for SAR and emergency services states some of the legal issues that can be related to the deployment of search dog.

*Not starting the search or rescue effort soon enough. Generally in this scenario, delay causes the victim to die, be injured further or otherwise suffer from the delay." (Waiting too long before available, qualified dogs are brought in.) Often the reason for the delay can be attributed to: *Authorities in charge of the rescue refuse to call or deny participation to properly qualified rescuers. In this situation, due to false pride, organizational jealousy, or other reasons, the services of properly qualified personnel or teams are rejected or are not called out even though they are available and may have actually volunteered to assist. The victim dies or suffers injury because those in charge cannot do the search and/or rescue in a timely and efficient manner." (Refusing to bring in available, qualified dogs.)

Along with this, *Failure to follow the plan or SOP of record. In this situation the plan calls for doing a certain thing or using a certain procedure, it is not used or is improperly used, and the victim is injured or dies." (Qualified dogs are brought in, but not utilized correctly.) Good search managers will listen to the concerns their dog handlers.

"Good Samaritan" Laws - Good Samaritan laws, laws stating that an individual cannot be held liable for injuries/damages resulting from trying to help someone in need, only protect persons who accidently encounter someone needing assistance, not when involved in an official rescue effort. "SAR personnel lose this status when they volunteer their time and efforts as part of a planned response............ If the SAR person breaches that duty, he/she can be held personally liable for civil damages." Dogs on a search should be qualified search dogs, as their handlers could be held liable for the dog's performance, or lack thereof. Current certification is the dog handler's best protection if called to testify in court.

*Taken from The Handbook for Managing Land Search Operations, by Robert "Skip" Stoffel, Published by Emergency Response International Inc.