Meet Roux! The newest member of El Paso County Search and Rescue

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - El Paso County Search and Rescue just got a whole lot cuter with the addition of 9-month-old Labrador Retriever, Roux.

“Meet Roux, the newest member of our K9 Team! Roux will be getting settled into her new home and begin training with her mom in the next few weeks. Stay tuned for more cute pictures and updates in the future!”

Roux’s addition makes nine on El Paso County Search and Rescue’s (EPCSAR) K9 roster. The pups help find lost and missing people in the mountains and trails around El Paso County.

Roux’s handler Holly Bradbury tells 11 News the pup will start off learning how to trail, but right now she is just learning the basics.

“All of the team K9s are scent discriminating, meaning they search only for the specific person they have been asked to find; how they find that person depends on the dog. Some of our K9s search using trailing, which precisely as it sounds, means they put their noses to the ground and follow the trail of the lost person. Other K9s are air scenting, using wind currents and tracking the scent in the air, working off-lead, and often covering a much larger physical area. Many of our K9s are certified in human remains detection (HRD) to identify bones and cremated remains, including submerged and buried remains. The team K9s regularly practice searching for human remains during training, using cadaver remains hidden at surface level, elevated, and buried. The hard work done by both K9 and handler is challenging but essential in helping to provide closure to loved ones,” the EPCSAR website reads.

Bradbury says in their off time Roux is energetic, loves to snuggle on the couch and takes naps. When she gets her certification Roux will take the trails with the rest of the K-9 team to help find missing people. “The dogs are so much smarter than us and finding people. We have to rely on them, so they’re huge when it comes to finding missing people,” says Bradbury.

Read more about the K9s and view their bios here!

We can’t wait to see Roux join the crew out in the field!

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