Austin
Golden Retriever
Inducted November 2000
Owned by Officer Jim Minton of the Austin Police Department
Nominated by Dr. Everett Simmons
A 3-year-old search and rescue dog for the Austin Police Department, Austin was found as a puppy and rescued from the woods east of Houston by hunters. He was then turned over to the Golden Retriever Rescue Group of Houston. Texas Hearing and Service dogs purchased Austin and provided testing and training before donating him to the Austin Police Department in January 1999.
Austin is currently certified in Advanced Tracking, Area Search, and Evidence Search. He also is trained to search for missing children and adults. This includes missing aircraft and crash victims, missing Alzheimer’s patients, hunters, or hikers.
Dogs like Austin are valuable members of search and rescue teams. Their extraordinary sense of smell allows them to quickly locate missing persons even when hidden from view.
One notable example of Austin’s value took place at the Texas A&M bonfire collapse of Nov. 18, 1999. Austin and his handler, Officer Jim Minton, responded to a call for help quickly, and once on site, Austin was able to maneuver among the dangerous, unstable log pile to help identify where victims were.
Officer Minton says, “Austin just shows that you can find a stray dog and turn him into a hero, which he is.”
Austin’s veterinarian, Dr. Everett Simmons of Burnet Road Animal Hospital in Austin, nominated the dog for the Texas Animal Hall of Fame.
“Austin is a very intelligent dog,” says Dr. Simmons. “He is one of my most well-mannered patients, and one who does his job well.”
In addition to Austin, another one of the four inductees into the Texas Animal Hall of Fame in 2000 was rescued by the Greater Houston Golden Retriever Rescue Group. “Dakota” is a therapy dog in Plano who has learned to alert his owner, who has heart trouble, to immenent heart attacks by sensing warning enzymes released by the owner’s body. Dakota’s early alerting allows his owner to take medication to stave off the attacks.
Cindy Moss, chairman of the rescue group, says: “We are very proud of the accomplishments of Dakota and Austin. They are exemplary representatives of the talent and temperament of the breed and are well deserving of the honor being bestowed on him. We hope this recognition will raise awareness of rescue, of the fact that simply because a dog has been discarded by its owners or picked up as a stray does not mean it has any less potential or is any less valuable than a puppy purchased from a breeder.”
Officer Minton says he sometimes wonders if Austin was really lost when the hunters found him as a puppy. Says Minton, “Maybe Austin was just looking for his calling, because he has certainly found it.”
