Searchdog

The story of Matthew Zarrella, a Rhode State Police Sergeant who rehabilitates "pound dogs" and turns them into Search & Rescue/Recovery Dogs. Through this film, audiences are exposed to a rare and intimate true story about Matthew, his dogs and his students, and they witness extraordinary moments as he trains them to find missing persons. From Matthew's video diaries, filmmaker interviews and four years of real-time searches, we understand his motivation to help others, and his empathic methods of finding the lost and missing. —Mary Healey Jamiel