EDEN — Kirby darted through the grass, keen on the scent. Rounding a corner, the black labrador ran behind the house and sniffed the air — someone was close, and not just his owner, Craig Orum, who was following close behind. A few seconds later, Kirby had his paws up against a truck, barking at the window.
Orum’s wife sat up from her hiding place. Kirby found her, just as he would find her if she had been trapped under rubble and unable to call for help.
Orum and his wife keep Kirby at their Eden home, though they don’t own him. Kirby is technically the property of the Federal Emergency Management Administration, so the agency can deploy him to the scene of a catastrophe, like the aftermath of an earthquake or hurricane, to search for survivors.
