Santa Barbara County Fire Department dog retires from search scent duties
The Santa Barbara County Fire Department announced the retirement of one of their Live Scent Search Dogs on Thursday.
Riley, born October 1, 2007 in northern California, is a Live Scent Search Dog that was trained by the Search Dog Foundation in Santa Paula after two failed attempts at a regular domestic life.
Riley finished his basic Search Dog training and was paired with Captain Eric Gray of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
They worked and trained together to achieve and receive their FEMA Certification on May 15 in Boston.
Both Eric and Riley were one of the responders to the search for victims following the devastating Montecito mudslides on January 9, 2018.
They have even traveled far and wide responding to disasters all over the world.
The pair responded to Hurricane Maria in 2017 where both Eric and Riley traveled to Puerto Rico to help search for victims. In 2011, they traveled to Japan to help in the search for survivors of the devastating earthquake and tsunami.
At 11 years old with eight of them spent with Eric, Riley retired from the Santa Barbara County Fire Department and California Task Force 2.
Riley will now enjoy his life as a family pet in the Gray home.
