CALIFORNIA RESCUE DOG ASSOCIATION

What CALIFORNIA RESCUE DOG ASSOCIATION does

California Rescue Dog Association (CARDA) is a volunteer-driven nonprofit organization headquartered in Castro Valley, California, that trains, certifies, and deploys search dog teams to assist law enforcement and other public safety agencies in locating missing persons. CARDA operates five distinct canine search disciplines: wilderness air scent (covering 100+ acres per day per dog), urban trailing (establishing direction-of-travel probability areas), water human remains detection (HRD), land HRD (cold cases, disasters, clandestine graves), and avalanche search. The organization's trained teams are deployed directly to requesting agencies at no cost, with members personally absorbing all operational costs including fuel, vehicles, training, equipment, and dog expenses.

CARDA's primary customers are government agencies, specifically the California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) and County Sheriff Search and Rescue teams throughout California. The organization responds to more than 100 wilderness searches per year through these channels. In 2025, CARDA logged 5,006 search hours, drove 78,992 miles to searches, and conducted 153 searches in California. The organization does not charge for any services and relies entirely on community donations, family/business/foundation partnerships, and dedicated fundraising funds (such as water recovery certification and emergency vet medical care funds) to sustain operations. Marketing and engagement are conducted through the organization's website, Facebook, Instagram, Vimeo, and email newsletter channels.

Name

CALIFORNIA RESCUE DOG ASSOCIATION

Legal name

California Rescue Dog Association

Website

https://search-dogs.carda.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

California Rescue Dog Association (CARDA) is a volunteer nonprofit that trains, certifies, and deploys search dog teams across five specialties to help California law enforcement locate missing persons, providing services free of charge.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Castro Valley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: CARDA is a volunteer nonprofit organization that relies entirely on donations from the community to fund operations. Members incur all personal costs (gas, vehicles, training, equipment, dog expenses) and all services to law enforcement agencies and families are provided free of charge.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CARDA trains, certifies, and deploys volunteer search dog teams to assist law enforcement and public safety agencies in locating missing persons. The organization provides five specialized canine search disciplines—Wilderness Air Scent, Urban Trailing, Water Human Remains Detection, Land Human Remains Detection, and Avalanche Search—all delivered free of charge to requesting agencies and families of missing persons. CARDA members personally cover all operational costs including gas, vehicles, training, equipment, and dog expenses.

Product overview

CARDA is a non-profit organization that operates as a single unified service offering: training, certifying, and deploying highly-qualified search dog teams to assist law enforcement and public safety agencies in search for missing persons. The organization provides five distinct search and rescue canine services—Wilderness Air Scent, Urban Trailing, Water HRD, Land HRD, and Avalanche search—all offered free of charge to requesting agencies and families. CARDA members incur all operational costs including gas, vehicles, training, equipment, and dog expenses.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wilderness Air Scent Search and Rescue

Quantifiable outcome

• 100+ acres of search area covered per dog per day in wilderness searches
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES)coreOthersCalOES is a primary customer and partner agency that requests CARDA search dog teams for emergency and disaster response operations. CARDA responds to wilderness searches through CalOES coordination. The relationship is ongoing operational collaboration.
• County Sheriff Search and Rescue TeamscoreOthersCounty Sheriff departments throughout California partner with CARDA by requesting search dog teams for missing person operations. CARDA responds to over 100 wilderness searches per year through County Sheriff coordination. The relationship is ongoing operational collaboration.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• American Red Cross: American Red Cross is a large, established nonprofit providing broad disaster response, emergency services, and humanitarian support nationwide. It is comparable to CARDA as a volunteer-funded nonprofit serving government agencies during disasters, though its mission scope is far broader than canine SAR.
• Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): FEMA is the federal agency coordinating disaster response across the U.S. It is comparable to CARDA as a recipient and coordinator of volunteer SAR resources during emergencies, but operates as a government agency with vastly larger scope and resources.

Others

• Mountain Rescue Association: MRA coordinates volunteer ground search and rescue teams across mountainous regions of the U.S. It is comparable to CARDA as a volunteer nonprofit delivering SAR services in support of law enforcement, but its focus is ground teams rather than canine units.
• Civil Air Patrol: Civil Air Patrol is a volunteer civilian organization performing aerial search and rescue missions in support of federal and state agencies. It shares CARDA's nonprofit, volunteer-driven model and government-agency customer base, though it delivers aerial rather than canine capabilities.
• National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR): NASAR is the national membership association supporting search and rescue professionals across the U.S. It is comparable to CARDA as part of the same volunteer-driven, community-supported SAR ecosystem, though it is an industry/association body rather than an operational canine team.

Direct peers

• American Rescue Dog Association: American Rescue Dog Association is a volunteer nonprofit that trains and deploys search and rescue dog teams to assist law enforcement nationwide. It is the closest direct peer to CARDA, sharing a volunteer-driven, donation-funded, multi-discipline canine SAR model that delivers free services to public safety agencies.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubevimeo.com/cardasearchdogs
• Facebookfacebook.com/carda.org
• Instagraminstagram.com/cardasearchdogs
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/california-rescue-dog-association

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about CALIFORNIA RESCUE DOG ASSOCIATION