Help Save Endangered Sea Turtles!
We are K9s 4 Conservation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit that trains and deploys sea turtle nest detection dogs to the Texas coast and we need YOUR help to continue our mission! Your tax deductible donation will go to help cover the costs of operating our sea turtle nest detection dog program. We operate in support of existing conservation efforts here on the Texas coast to help our sea turtles continue their recovery from the decimation they suffered in the 20th century. To learn more keep reading!
Every summer on the Texas coast, critically endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtles pull themselves up on the beach to lay their eggs. After laying the eggs, she will cover them up, and then return to the Gulf of Mexico again. Once the mother leaves, the eggs are all left all alone and are vulnerable to a host of predators from coyotes to fire ants! And if the nest stays safe, the tiny hatchlings are threatened by sea gulls, crabs, and other predators as they sprint for the ocean.
K9s 4 Conservation is training two sea turtle nest detection dogs to support the teams of conservationists on Padre Island, Texas. The conservationists patrol the beaches looking for nesting turtles. When they spot one, they collect the eggs from the nest and rebury them in protected areas, or incubate them in special facilities to keep them safe from predators. Then, when the eggs hatch, they take the hatchlings to the beach and release them into the ocean while protecting them from predators like sea gulls.
Sometimes, the buried nests are very difficult to find for human searchers. The wind blows away the tracks that the mother turtle left so unless the conservationists see the turtle nesting, the eggs can be hard to find. Over the years, dogs have proven to be incredibly useful in locating sea turtle nests for conservation teams. Ridley Ranger belonged to a conservationist, Dr. Shaver, and helped her locate nests at the Padre Island National Seashore. Sadly, Ridley passed away in January after many years of service as a "turtle dog." This is a picture of Ridley sniffing out a sea turtle nest.
K9s 4 Conservation is training Saul, a 4 year old German Shepherd, and Dasha, 4 year old Belgian Malinois to try to fill the paw prints of doggy pioneers like Ridley. Saul was originally a rescue from Idaho that was adopted and trained as a search and rescue dog, but since moving to Texas, there is not much search and rescue work for him to do. Since he is such a great working dog and has an amazing temperament7, it was decided to cross train him to find sea turtle nests!
Saul looking good in his RexSpecs:
Dasha is from Bosnia and was originally being trained for drug detection work by a local company in Texas. Unfortunately, she is little too "soft" for police dog work, so she was washed out of the drug dog program. Lucky for us though, because she is an AMAZING turtle dog! She has a great mix of very high drive and an incredibly sweet personality. Perfect for conservation work!
Dasha doing some basic detection training drills:
Both dogs will receive training through May and June in San Marcos, Texas. In July, we will spend most of our time in the Corpus Christi area in order to train on the beach and with actual sea turtle nests. As the dogs progress, they will move to a full "deployment" status and spend the rest of July and August supporting conservation teams on North Padre Island!
We plan to deploy next year from May-August in order to support the conservationists through the vast majority of the turtle nesting season. Depending on the success of our fund raising endeavors, we also hope to be able to send out several other handler and conservation dog teams to help patrol North Padre Island (it is about 80 miles long!) as well as other beaches such as Mustang Island and South Padre Island.
We need funding to cover expenses for training and maintenance of the dogs (working dogs eat a LOT of food!), equipping the team (GPS, GPS collars for the dogs, vests for the dogs, protective equipment for the dogs and handler, etc.), and deploying the dogs and handler (vehicle use, gasoline, room and board, etc.).
Every little bit helps! It doesn't matter if you want to donate $5 or $500!
2,400 people donating $5 each would get us to our first goal of $12,000. Surely there are more than 2,400 people out there with $5 (a single specialty coffee) that love sea turtles and dogs! If 1600 people donated $25, we could reach our second goal! And if 2,400 people donated $25, we would surpass our third!
Our first goal, $12,000, is the bare minimum it will cost to train, equip, and deploy over the summer. While this may seem like a lot, remember that a fully trained detection dog generally costs about $15,000-20,000 and we are providing TWO!
Our second goal, $40,000, is the minimum amount of money it will take to train, deploy, equip, and maintain both dogs for the entire year.
The third goal, $60,000, is enough money to train, equip, deploy, and maintain both dogs for the entire year as well as obtain and train 2-4 more dogs for next years sea turtle nesting season!
Any money we receive beyond $60,000 will be used to grow the team or saved to use in funding operations in future years.
Each nest we locate is about 100 sea turtle hatchlings that will be protected until they get into the ocean.
Please donate so we can help save these critically endangered sea turtles!
