The Nutro Company Donates One Million Dollars to the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation

Celebrates Over 13 Years of Fueling America’s Search Dogs

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Wherever disasters strike, the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF) is there, offering professionally trained dogs to help firefighters and other first responders find people buried alive in the wreckage of disasters. To support this heroic Foundation, The Nutro Company has pledged to sponsor the SDF, donating one million dollars to the Foundation over the next five years.

As the exclusive dog food partner for SDF, The Nutro Company will provide ongoing support to rescue dogs by giving them NUTRO® NATURAL CHOICE® dog food while at home, during training and while deployed to a disaster site. It will give them the fuel they need to keep up their endurance and health in the face of disasters. The Nutro Company will provide additional vouchers to the Foundation for distribution to other FEMA Certified Search Teams.

In addition to offering a healthy diet, The Nutro Company is constructing a dog park area in the SDF National Training Center to allow the dogs space to run and relax while training. The Nutro Company’s ROOM TO RUN™ area and the entire National Training Center will be completed in September 2012.

“Sponsoring the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation is a natural fit for The Nutro Company,” says Kent Cunningham, vice president of Marketing for The Nutro Company. “We wanted to ensure these heroic dogs are receiving nutritious natural pet food, and have access to a robust play area to help them maintain a healthy lifestyle.”

Since 1998, The Nutro Company has supported SDF with NUTRO® NATURAL CHOICE® dog food for all SDF canine disaster Search Teams. This larger donation demonstrates the company’s commitment to SDF and its mission.

“The Nutro Company has been a supporter of the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation for over 13 years,” says Debra Tosch, Executive Director of SDF. “We look forward to partnering with them over the next five years to ensure our dogs, their handlers and the National Training Center are in the best shape possible when disasters strike.”

As more and more disasters seem to appear across the globe, these search dogs are vital, and require specific talents that SDF helps to foster through extensive training and ongoing care. To build its team of search dogs, SDF rescues unwanted dogs from shelters across the country who undergo six months of training to help advance obedience skills, disaster search skills and gain the confidence and trust they need by forming a special bond with their handler. Not to mention, the handlers are also involved in an intensive training course to help create an efficient and effective rescue team. This all comes with a lofty expense, and as non-profit organization, with no government funding, SDF raises funds from individuals, foundations and companies.

If you would like to make a donation to SDF visit www.searchdogfoundation.org. After all, the search starts with you.

About The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation


Founded in 1996, the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Ventura, California. Our mission is to strengthen disaster response in America by recruiting rescued dogs and partnering them with firefighters and other first responders to find people buried alive in the wreckage of disasters. We offer the professionally trained canines an ongoing program of support and advanced deployment training at no cost to our partner fire departments. And we ensure lifetime care for every dog in our program: once rescued, these dogs never need to be rescued again. For more information, visit www.searchdogfoundation.org.

About The Nutro Company


The Nutro Company is a leading manufacturer of natural* pet food products sold exclusively at pet specialty stores. The company has been making “The World’s Best Pet Food” for more than 80 years and is dedicated to quality, excellence and innovation in dog and cat nutrition offering healthful formulas for every pet’s life stage, activity level and size. The Nutro Company’s family of brands includes NUTRO® MAX®, NUTRO® NATURAL CHOICE® and NUTRO® ULTRA™ pet food brands in addition to the GREENIES® brands which include the U.S. leader in pet specialty dental chews, GREENIES® PILL POCKETS® treats and GREENIES® JointCare treats. For more information, please visit www.nutro.com and www.greenies.com.

About Mars, Incorporated

In 1911, Frank C. Mars made the first Mars candies in his Tacoma, Washington kitchen and established Mars’ first roots as a confectionery company. In the 1920s, Forrest E. Mars, Sr. joined his father in business and together they launched the MILKY WAY® bar. In 1932, Forrest, Sr. moved to the United Kingdom with a dream of building a business based on the philosophy of a “mutuality of benefits” for all stakeholders – this vision serves as the foundation of the Mars, Incorporated we are today. Based in McLean, Virginia, Mars has net sales of more than $30 billion and six business segments including Petcare, Chocolate, Wrigley, Food, Drinks and Symbioscience. More than 65,000 Associates worldwide are putting our Mars Principles in action every day to make a difference for people and the planet through our performance.