Toney and Pepper

Toney Wade, commander and K9 handler with Cajun Coast Search & Rescue Team addressed Franklin Rotary Club Tuesday with K9 Pepper at his side.
Wade and Pepper recently returned from Kentucky where they were assisting authorities in searching for a missing person.
Pepper lay calmly near the podium as Wade spoke to Rotarians; he opened with the fact that he has been involved with search and rescue for 27 years.
“My story ran that my grandparents were kidnapped and murdered 33 years ago,” he said. “They were missing for nine days and there were no search teams to go out and look, so family had to do it all.
“I promised myself that if I ever got the opportunity to help a family going through a similar situation, that I would do so.”
He now commands CCSRT with 13 nationally certified K9s, and a nationally recognized team of certified handlers and search personnel.
He reported that he just wrapped filming on a documentary for the Discovery Channel, which is set to air sometime in May or June; he also recently signed a deal for a reality show with Investigation Discovery and is in talks with a publishing agent for a possible book deal.
Aside from those, Wade is going back to continue work on the missing person case in Kentucky, and will soon be headed to Texas to give a presentation at the National Educators Conference.
Pepper has been with Wade for eight months and has been certified in human remains detection for six of those months. She is two years old and is a Belgian Malinois that was donated to CCSRT by the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation.
“We stay extremely busy,” Wade said of his six months working with Pepper.
Each of CCSRT’s certified K9 assets stays in the house of their handler, making them a part of the handler’s family, and Pepper is no different.
Wade said he goes to shelters across the parish looking for dogs to rescue, and if after testing, the dog is able to work in certifying and becoming part of the team, then they are recruited. If not, Wade still finds a home for them. So, aside from the search and rescue work that CCSRT does for and with humans, they also have a canine version of rescuing which they do in conjunction with local shelters.
Wade noted that CCSRT has a strict standard of training and preparedness expectations for every one of their 13 K9 assets, and if he sees any deviation from those standards, the dog and trainer are made to correct the deficiency until the standard is met again, or the handler will lose the dog.
“We are very strict on training, certification and how the dogs are kept,” Wade said. “When we get called out to go somewhere to do something, lives are depending on these dogs. I want to make sure these dogs are where they need to be with their training, and to be sure that the handlers are there.”
However, Wade also disclosed that when it comes to his 8-year-old daughter and highly trained K9 asset Pepper, once his daughter is in the room, “It’s like I’m not even there.”
He told a story about his daughter calling him to a room to show off a new trick she had been working on with Pepper.
She had taught Pepper to high five.
After exhibiting this for her father, Pepper’s certified handler, “She walked off like a mic-drop,” he chuckled.
In a more serious description of the precision of Pepper’s expertise, Wade said she has the ability to smell remains buried 87 feet under water. He added that the only reason he believes her limit seems to be 87 feet is that she hasn’t been afforded the opportunity to break the record—yet. She may be able to smell remains further down than that.
He concluded his address by saying that CCSRT is an entirely self-reliant organization, and if anyone is interested in donating, they can do so at the team’s Facebook page.
After the program, Wade was presented a check from Rotarian DiDi Battle and the club.