Three men who love animals have found ways to make a big difference in the lives of homeless and lost pets
By Heidi Dahms Foster
Eric Neitzel
Eric Neitzel found out early in his life what it means to lose a beloved dog and find it again. Now, through his company, Fire Ground Drone Works, he is adding his skills to helping others know that relief.
“I had a husky malamute mix as a kid. We went to Des Moines, Iowa for the 4th of July fireworks, and she took off. I searched and searched, and camped in the yard waiting for her to come home. Finally, we found her two days later,” he said.
On his own at age 14, Eric needed all his resources to survive, so he actually hasn’t had a dog since. He realized his long-term dream of becoming a firefighter and emergency manager in Northern California. He came to Arizona to assist with an Incident Management team during the Rodeo Chediski Fire in 2002. He loved the work and the area, and relocated to Show Low.
As a Public Information Officer, he served with the Apache Sitgreaves National Forest and on the FEMA Southwest Incident Management Team. Then he became a single dad of a three-year-old, and began to look for a business of his own. He crafted digital signage ads and then earned his FAA drone license. He started working as an aerial photographer for insurance companies, utilities, news and weather agencies and even finding cattle lost on large ranches.
Always one to look for purpose in his life, Eric found himself using his drone skills to help wherever he could. One of his first searches was in December for a lost three-year-old child that was swept away in Tonto Creek after the family tried to cross the flooded waterway. The child, along with two others, perished, but the family had closure after finding her body.
As a part of several lost animal groups on Facebook, Eric found that people often were asking for a drone to help search. “I had nothing going on, so I volunteered,” he said.
He helps out with Northern Arizona Animal Search and Rescue and Yavapai Humane Trappers a couple of times each week, as he has time. He also recently assisted to help trap and bring up a husky lost at the Grand Canyon, even though he couldn’t use his drone because the area is restricted air space.
With increasing technical improvements Eric is finding that he can use his skills to improve chances of locating lost pets. He can now do an aerial search and record the video, then later go back and search for dogs he may not have seen while flying.
In one search, he later spotted a dog laying in shadows that was hidden during his flight search. He is now testing software that will scan for a certain colored dog, or a person wearing colored clothing.
Two of his most memorable searches were for a German Shepherd lost after a rollover accident in Badger Springs. The Shepherd was found after many days, but unfortunately later succumbed to its injuries. Again, though, Konshu’s family had closure.
Most recently, Eric assisted in the search for a deaf sheepdog near Sedona that was lost for five days in the wilderness. The dog was happily returned safely to his owner.
Eric keeps busy assisting with his drone, but he said he feels really good about his volunteer work. “It gives me a purpose. After the fire service, I get antsy to go do something. It provides a good outlet.”
Find Fireground Drone Works and 3D on Facebook at: facebook.com/Fireground/
Milan Norum
Milan Norum, retired with his wife Kathy, thought it was a good thing when his wife began volunteering in 2018 to walk dogs at Yavapai Humane Society. Soon, Milan thought, “Heck, it’s time to do something. I had always liked dogs.”
Little did he know that he and Kathy’s “couple of times a week” volunteer service would expand to nearly every day as Covid-19 stopped many volunteers from being able to come in.
Now, Kathy works at the shelter, and Milan has virtually adopted all the dogs at YHS.
“They are all mine a little bit,” he said. “I look at it as ‘these guys are homeless. So you try to do the best you can for an animal – they don’t know why they are there, and it has to be so scary for them at first.’”
Milan has found great satisfaction in beginning to work with a frightened, untrained animal that comes around and then gets adopted. “You can’t put a price on a good success story!” he said.
He finds himself spending more and more time at YHS, working with the dogs and doing needed odd jobs such as making signs, fixing doors and putting beds together. “It’s a commitment until Covid is over with. It’s the right thing to do.”
While they get a bad rap at times, Milan finds that he loves the pit bulls at the shelter.
“I get so much back from the pit bulls. They are so fun and misunderstood. I’ve never had a problem with a single one of them. They are so lovable, they just want to play and be touched. If you rub their head and shoulders, they are so happy,” he said.
Right now the couple has a 14-year-old Aussie mix that they adopted when she was 12.
Milan was helping at an adoption event, and assisting a woman who wanted to adopt her. But then she decided the dog was too big for her apartment, and Milan returned the dog to the shelter. As he was putting her inside, his eyes met hers, and he thought, “Uh oh, that’s it, we’ve bonded.”
He and Kathy fostered the dog for three months but he admits he had no intention of ever letting her go and now she is a permanent member of their household.
Milan has a message for those who think they’d like to volunteer at the shelter. “Unless you are committed, I wouldn’t do it. These dogs need to have some kind of structure. Find out what it takes to get these dogs back in shape to be adopted,” he said.
He encourages people to realize that dogs that come to YHS have a shot at making it into a loving home. He also is amazed at all of the outreach the shelter does. “YHS reaches out to all the other shelters, just to help. The dogs don’t care – they don’t know who is taking care of them, they are just being taken care of. I love it, it’s a good thing.”
Volunteer or donate to Yavapai Humane Society at: yavapaihumane.org
Jerry Harding
Jerry Harding had animals as a child and never outgrew his love for them. He got involved in rescue in 2017 when he noticed on Facebook that someone posted about two huskies running around Prescott Valley.
“I thought, well, I’m not doing anything, so I took a drive to look for them. I saw them and opened my truck door and said, ‘who wants to go for a ride?’ They jumped right in and after contacting the owner, they came and got them.”
He continued to make himself available to search for lost dogs and then met Katrina Karr of Yavapai Humane Trappers. He eventually learned the ins and outs of rescue and how to use traps to contain frightened and lost pets that wouldn’t allow anyone to go near them.
His first trap rescue was at Jacob’s Lake above the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. A mini Dachshund named Hazel had escaped and was missing for several days. The owners had to leave without her.
She was spotted a few days later three miles from the lodge. “I grabbed the trap and headed up there. The owner had flown in, and when he spotted Hazel, he hollered to her. She looked at him and took off running. I told him Hazel was in survival mode and wouldn’t trust anyone.
“The owner had said Hazel liked beef jerky, so I put that in the traps and got set up. The next morning, I went back and there she was in the trap. The owner texted his wife and they were so excited.”
Jerry has since helped find a dog that was lost from an accident on Mingus Mountain. He was able to walk up to the dog and offer her a treat. She allowed him to place a slip lead on her and she jumped into his truck. He also helped in the search for Konshu, the German Shepherd at Badger Springs.
People ask the 69-year-old Jerry why he does rescue. “I was a probably a rotten brat as a kid and this way I get to see people continue to enjoy their animals. They always offer money, but I don’t take that. I tell them they can donate to the organization if they like. The hard part is the dogs you don’t catch. We do take it hard.”
Jerry suggests that those who want to volunteer seriously with search and rescue take a class from Cheryl Naumann at Arizona’s Humane Animal Rescue and Trapping Team (HARTT) in Phoenix.
“She teaches classes for people with so many hints, if they are serious about rescue. She helps them know what to do and not to do. In one class I was introduced as being from Yavapai Humane Trappers. Everyone started clapping. That was kind of neat, I have to say,” Jerry said.
Find information on Yavapai Humane Trappers on Facebook at Yavapai Humane Trappers Animal Search and Rescue or HARTT at HARTT (AZ trapping) Community Group.
