Friends of Indiana Disaster Search Dogs

This fundraiser is being conducted on behalf of Friends of Indiana Disaster Search Dogs, or FOIDS, a registered 501(c)3 organization based in Indianapolis that represents search dogs and their handlers, many of whom are "civilians" not employed by any government nor law enforcement/firefighting agency. 

This GoFundMe is to help a handler, Janalee, pay her $6,000 vet bill. Blitz, a 6-year-old yellow Labrador retriever, needed emergency treatment (and four days in the vet hospital) after experiencing a scary line-of-duty injury. 
 
Blitz was summoned to a Central Indiana waterway on June 21 and June 22, 2018 to help locate a missing fisherman who was presumed to have drowned.  Blitz - who is FEMA-certified in human remains detection - was able to help direct public safety first responders to the man's body, which was underwater. 

During the search, Blitz came into contact with a suspected drug-related foreign substance or toxin (it could be meth - we'll never truly know!) as he traversed the polluted shoreline. Blitz suffered two apparent episodes within a few hours during and after the callout, and his handler was directed by FOIDS to take Blitz in for emergency treatment, which the handler did.

Janalee and her dogs Blitz and Arrow (who was also part of the callout but was not injured) are NOT in the employ of a government or quasi-government agency. Regrettably that means her working dogs are NOT covered under any type of workers compensation protection that insures other members of the team should a medical incident arise.

As a result, Janalee will solely bear the full cost ($6,000) of the search effort, of which she was already responding on a volunteer basis!

To lighten her expense, we are launching a GoFundMe account to reimburse her for that out-of-pocket expense. All donated funds up to $6,000 will be paid from FOIDS, a nonprofit, to Janalee. Any extra will be used by FOIDS to create an emergency reserve in case a similar incident or injury.

Be assured, FOIDS is working with the first responder community to ensure that all handlers in the future can be assured that when they are summoned to a scene, they and their search dogs will be protected from financial harm to the fullest extent possible. 

Our community cannot afford to have these dogs unavailable in times of a crisis situation; they truly are a critical component in the necessary task of finding victims, alive or deceased.

Any questions? Let us know how we can help.

Note: FOIDS was created in 2012 to support the mission of Indiana Task Force 1, one of 28 FEMA USAR (search and rescue) teams, although our members are often summoned for service as a state resource.

Thanks to Indiana Task Force 1, the Indianapolis Fire Department, the Wayne Township Fire Department and Marion County fire chiefs for their assistance in this fundraiser.