Roma, a black Labrador, spent her early years in a Pasadena, California shelter, waiting for a home. Overlooked by countless potential adopters, her fortune changed when a shelter employee recognized her potential as a search and rescue dog. This employee contacted the Search Dog Foundation, leading to Roma's training, where she excelled and was paired with handler Derek Moree.
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At six years old, Roma has been deployed in critical missions, including searches for missing people beneath building rubble. Her skills are essential for search and rescue teams, enabling them to concentrate their efforts effectively. Moree highlighted Roma's role, stating that her ability to determine if someone is trapped allows resources to be allocated to the right locations.
Recently, Roma and Moree were deployed to Venezuela following significant earthquakes, where they played a crucial role in finding over a dozen survivors trapped in the debris of a collapsed apartment building. Without Roma's capabilities, many of those individuals might not have survived.
In recognition of her contributions, Roma is set to receive the Pet Hero Award during Remember Me Thursday (RMT), an annual event to honor shelter animals still awaiting homes. The ceremony will take place at the Helen Woodward Animal Center, where Roma will be awarded a plaque and a year's supply of Blue Buffalo dog food, which Moree plans to donate to a local rescue organization.
Roma's transformation from an overlooked shelter dog to a celebrated search and rescue hero underscores the extraordinary impact that one person's belief in an animal can have.