Welcome to ARDA
The American Rescue Dog Association® (ARDA®) is comprised of highly skilled volunteer search and rescue units across the United States that operate in conjunction with local law enforcement or other applicable emergency services agencies to assist in the location of missing persons. ARDA units provide specially trained dogs to locate missing persons in wilderness, disaster, human remains and water search and rescue/recovery missions. Each member unit is required to adhere to the Association's rigid standards and undergo a rigorous two-day field evaluation every three years to ensure these standards are being maintained.
Units are available 24-hours a day to respond to requests for services from applicable local, state or federal responsible agencies.
Our search and rescue canine teams deploy in many circumstances, at several levels, at no cost to Federal and Local departments. ARDA resources operate solely as volunteers, and rely on donations for our continued operations.
"These things we do...
that others may live"
This motto has been adopted by Search and Rescue (SAR) teams worldwide to signify the core values of those who, at times, risk their own lives to save the lives of others. The phrase, which may have been adapted from its original Biblical origin, aptly describes the SAR goal of saving those in need of rescue.
The motto "That others may live" has origins from the USAF Pararescue: reported by Time Magazine in 1966. Most recently, the quote was prominent in the movie, The Guardian, portraying U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmers.