Veteran & Search/Rescue Dogs Nationally Honored for #StillServing

San Marcos resident Christian Fritz and his search and rescue dogs, Starbuck and Saul, are being recognized for #StillServing in the national Veterans of Foreign Wars #StillServing campaign. The campaign honors veterans who continue to serve after active duty and in conjunction with National Service Dog Month, focuses on those who serve alongside their canine companions.

A former U.S. Air Force intelligence collector in Afghanistan, Fritz rescued and trained Starbuck and Saul, and together they volunteer with Alamo Area Search and Rescue in San Antonio. Starbuck, a certified human remains detection dog, and Saul, a certified wilderness area search dog, have been an integral part of search and rescue missions for the past seven years. In addition, Saul was trained to find sea turtles and sea turtle nests for a conservation project on the Texas Coast.

Fritz invested over 12 months before earning his initial search and rescue certification with his canine partners and continues training the dogs upwards of 10 hours a week on ongoing training. He says he wouldn’t have it any other way. Starbuck and Saul provide an invaluable service to the community during crisis, but they also provide Fritz with the sense of purpose and mission he had been missing since leaving the military.