a documentary by Marcus Engley & Andrew Toyota

This is a story about hiding in blackberry bushes and being bitten by mosquitoes. It is a story about pushing through thorns and thick brush, in the rain and the snow and the sun. It is a story about dogs, the men and women who train them and, ultimately, the people that they strive to help.

The seed of an idea for this project began to grow as Marcus and Andy got involved with Snohomish County’s Volunteer K9 Search And Rescue team. It quickly became apparent how much time the dog handlers and the support personnel put into working the dogs. A dog that can find a lost person has probably been training for at least two years, if not much longer, and it takes the effort of the entire team to bring each dog to its full potential.

What grew from that seed is a small, simple story about a lost hiker and the team that went out to look for him. To know the complete story is to be with the team as they look for lost children, or dementia patients who’ve wandered from home. It’s the skiers and the climbers that get the most attention, but it’s the entire community that they serve.

With thanks to Black Rose Affair for the original music and enormous gratitude to Suzanne Elshult and Christopher Blackledge for sharing their part in the story, please enjoy That Others May Live.

For more information or to learn how to get involved with Snohomish County Volunteer Search And Rescue, visit scvsar.org/.