K9 Unit
Kay
McDonald
Human Remains Coordinator/Handler
K9 Poppy
IPWDA
HRD Land & Crime Scene
K9 Brio
HRD In Training
Kay McDonald began in search and rescue in 2010 and trained her border collie in live find. He certified Level 3 in 160 acres through the Massachusetts Search and Rescue Dog Federation and has since retired. Kay trained a second dog, Poppy, in human remains detection and she certified in crime scene through the International Police Work Dog Association as well as Advanced Human Remains through the Massachusetts Search and Rescue Dog Federation. Kay was the VP and Training Director for Massachusetts Rescue and Recovery Canine Unit, then Training Director for Massachusetts Canine Response Team. In 2020 Kay moved to South Carolina and joined SCSAR. Kay and K9 Poppy recertified through the International Police Work Dog Association in Human Remains Detection for Land and Crime Scene. She is also training a second dog, Brio, in HR.
When Kay is not training HR, she's working her two other K9's in her 9-5 business of bed bug detection. Through her company, Bed Bug Detection K9s, Kay does canine bed bug inspections for commercial and residential facilities. For fun she does dock diving, FastCAT and agility with her dogs with K9 Poppy winning the Atlantic Coast Dock Diving Regional for Lapdogs in 2020 and placing second at the East Coast Regionals in HydroDash in 2021.
Kay’s son lives and works in Massachusetts. Kay earned her MEd from Boston University and her MBA from Rivier University.
Human Remains
Pam
Granade/SARII
HRD
K9 Tate
Trailing
HRD/LAND
NASAR
Pam joined SCSAR in 2021. She is certified as a SARTECH II with NASAR. K9 Tate is a two year old German shepherd dog; Tate and Pam are certified in HRD Land with NASAR. Tate loves to do any type of training that involves a toy reward.
Susan and her K9, Saffron, joined SCSAR in 2022. Saffron originally started her career as a live find dog, but she quickly made it clear that she had no interest in finding anyone but her handler. A fellow handler suggested HRD, and the rest is history.
Originally from Northwestern, IL., Susan spent 20 years in England before returning to the states and discovering Search and Rescue. When she's not training with the team, Susan enjoys hiking, knitting, and spending time with her family (that includes three more dogs and two cats).
Susan
Whitehead
HRD
K9 Safron
HRD/LAND
NASAR
TRAILING
Valerie
Vernet / SARII
Training Coordinator
K9 Gracie
AMPWDA Level 2
Trailing
Valerie joined SCSAR in 2019 after several years with SC Foothills SAR. Valerie and her trailing dog Gracie recently achieved Level 2 Trailing Certification with AMPWDA and Valerie recently obtained SARTECH II certification through NASAR. Valerie also holds a Part 107 UAS Pilot’s License and is active on the drone unit.
Valerie has a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering (Go Gators!), and has a career in Gas Turbine Development. She spent many years doing data analysis and control software for aviation Gas Turbine testing and is now writing modeling software for Power Plant turbines.
Valerie enjoys a hobby farm with her husband, and visits with her daughter, son-in-law, and two grandchildren. In addition to SAR, she loves back-country hiking and kayaking.
David
Harman/SARII
Trailing
K9 Ada
Trailing
AMPWDA Urban
Level 3
AMPWDA Wilderness
Level 1 GAK9
David Hartman joined SCSAR in 2021. His focus is on K9 handling. He and his wife Mary have a Czech German Shepherd, Ada, who has been training as a trailing dog. Ada earned her Level 1 through Georgia K9, and will be certifying with other agencies in the near future. David is also a Part 107 drone pilot and works with the drone team and ground teams.
David has a Bachelor’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech, and a Master’s in Business. Mary and David both spent careers in Computer Science, specializing in cloud computing software. David is an active light aircraft pilot and also volunteers as a SAR mission pilot.
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Scott
Hall/NCLFTM
Trailing
K9 Yogi
Trailing
Trailing
NAPWDA
I joined SCSAR in 2021. I was born and raised in Buncombe county N.C. and currently reside in the Candler area of the county. I'm married with one daughter and one grandson. I'm a heavy equipment operator for Pactiv Evergreen. I have two bloodhounds. Yogi is four years old and certified through North American Police Working Dog Association in trailing. Hope is two years old and working on getting her certification in 2023. In my spare time I enjoy hunting and fishing, especially with my grandson.
K9 Hope
Trailing
Trailing
In-Training
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AIR SCENT
Marty was born and raised in Memphis, TN and has lived in South Carolina since 2007. He and his wife have been married for 29 years, have a son, have daughter and have one grandson. He grew up in the outdoors, having had many hunting dogs over the years, but never a working dog. Gunner is his first working dog, he is a very high energy Golden Retriever. His favorite activity is fetching, followed by swimming and hiking. According to Marty (thank you for the kind words), he has learned more about dogs in the last few months by working with the K9 Team than he had during the first 53 years of his life.
K9 Gunner
Air Scent
Air Scent
AMPWDA
Level1
Air Scent
Marty
Hester/SARII
Air Scent Area Search
K9 Brodie
Air Scent
Air Scent
AMPWDA
Level1
Air Scent
Robbie
Swofford/SARII
Air Scent Area Search
Robbie has been with Spartanburg County Emergency Management for 19 years, married for 9 years, and has 4 beautiful daughters. Robbie took ownership of K9 Brodie in October 2021. Brodie was trained by Brandy Eggeman, gifted by Edwin Grant, and Robbie has sustained Brodie's training. On May 22, 2022 K9 Brodie and Robbie passed their evaluation for AMPWDA Level 1, Air Scent.
In-Active / Retired
Tyra
Seymour / SARII
Air Scent - InActive
K9 Roscoe
Retired Trailing
K9 Cricket
Air Scent
Previous AMPWDA Level 2 Air Scent
Tyra Seymour joined SCSAR in 2013 and quickly became SAR II Certified by the Summer of 2013. Since that time, Tyra has taken numerous classes, participated in numerous searches, and has become a proven leader on this team.
During Tyra's SAR career, his interest in SAR K9's grew and beginning in 2018, Tyra began training his first trailing dog, Cricket. Since then, Tyra adopted the infamous trailing dog Roscoe in February 2019, one of Mark Webb's well known SAR dogs (Coastal Carolina). Now, Tyra the ground searcher is Tyra the K9 Handler/ground searcher.
When Tyra isn't "Tyra: K9 Handler/Ground Searcher", Tyra is a loving husband and proud father of two children. In addition to his 2 children, Trya also has 4 fur babies and 1 cat. When Tyra's isn't wide open at home, he's wide open at work. Tyra is the owner of Eastlight Home Services where he specializes in home repairs and/or renovations.