Cathy Schiltz has trained dogs for more than 30 years. She has been a member of FEMA Missouri Task Force 1 since 1997 where she was the lead canine trainer for 10 years. She served for 3 years on the FEMA Canine sub-committee. She has deployed to and has searched at many disasters including; Moore, Oklahoma F-5 Tornado 1999, 9/11 World trade Center NYC 2001, Hurricane Katrina 2005, Hurricane Rita 2005, Hurricane Isabelle 2006, Hurricane Ernesto 2006; Hurricane Dean 2007, and Hurricane Ike 2008. For the past 4 years, her work with canines has included deployments to war zones working a Human Remains detection dog in Iraq to bring home missing US personnel (POW/MIA) and as a Explosives Detection Dog handler and Veterinary Technician in Baghdad. She has certified, handled, trained or influenced more than 100 canines in areas including live find, human remains, and explosives detection. Her training has included; 18 years as a FEMA canine search specialist, NAPWDA certifications in human remains detection, swift water technician, confined space technician, structural collapse technician, Rescue Technician, rope rescue technician, WMD medical consideration, critical incident stress, Hazmat operations, forensic sensitive site exploration, and Biometric systems.
In addition to training and handling canines, Ms. Schiltz has worked as a Veterinary Technician for various Veterinary clinics, been a volunteer Fire fighter for Boone County Fire Protection District, and an Emergency Medical technician for Boone Hospital ambulance service. Additionally Ms. Schiltz obtained both D.O.D and D.O.S secret clearances during her contracting work overseas.
