GSDCV Fundraising Support for the SES
The Victoria State Emergency Service Search Dog Squad received fund raising support from the German Shepherd Dog Club of Victoria.
The German Shepherd Dog Club of Victoria (GSDCV) in partnership with the Victoria State Emergency Service Central Region (VICSES) successfully raised some $15,000 through their 2003 annual community fund raising drive. The GSDCV used the proceeds to purchase a Command Trailer and other field equipment for the VICSES Search Dog Squad to use during training exercises and operational emergencies throughout Victoria.
The VICSES Central Region Support Unit is based in Melbourne and provides specialist support to all operational based units throughout Victoria. Their Search Dog Squad is in an embryonic state and apart from basic VICSES operating support is presently entirely self-funded by their volunteer members who are also active members of the GSDCV. There are currently some six German Shepherd dogs in varying stages of training to international search and rescue and VICSES compliance standards, and the Search Dog Squad once operational in the near future will act as a specialist attachment unit via the Victorian Police Dog Squad.
Previous fund raiding efforts by the VICSES Central Region Support Unit for their Search Dog Squad raised sufficient funds for the purchase of a dog trailer, which has subsequently received heavy use in transporting their search dogs to operational sites throughout Victoria. This latest fund raising effort in partnership with the GSDCV has gone a long way to ensuring that the VICSES Search Dog Squad has sufficient logistical support to operate effectively in the future.
The GSDCV and their interstate affiliates is the largest breed dog club in Australia, and over the last thirty years has actively promoted the German Shepherd dog as a responsible member of the community through accredited breeding, training, community and sporting based programs. The GSDCV has actively nurtured close relationships with those community based organisations such as the Police, SES, AAF, and Guide Dogs Victoria who use the German Shepherd in their line of work through the sharing of information on breeding and training, and assistance in recruiting suitable dogs for these organisations.
This fund raising effort in support of the VICSES Central Region Support Unit presented the GSDCV with an exciting opportunity to continue their program of actively promoting the German Shepherd breed in the community. The GSDCV welcomed the opportunity to work with the VICSES who is both highly regarded by the community at large and actively sought assistance in promoting the potential of the German
Shepherd as a working dog within their organisation.
The GSDCV made the official presentation of the Command Post Trailer to senior VICSES Central Region Support Unit representatives at their annual GSDCV Championship Dog Show at KCC Park, Skye, on the 13th December 2003. The presentation at Victoria’s premier sporting dog facility was proceeded by live demonstrations to members of the general public by a number of SES Operational Units and the GSDCV Demonstration Dog Team.