Kansas Boy Donates Tonsils to Help Train Cadaver Dogs, Raising Awareness About Donation Needs

"It helps our team to have newer human remains," said Deidra Stanley, director of the Kansas Search and Rescue Dog Association

By Kimberlee Speakman

Published on March 28, 2023 05:13 PM

Boy Donates Tonsils to Dog Program — Photo: Kansas Search and Rescue Dog Association

An interesting donation from a young boy in Kansas is going a long way to help a group of working dogs.

The child donated the tonsils he needed to have removed to the Kansas Search and Rescue Dog Association, which used the donation during a training session for its human remains detection (HRD) dogs — also known as cadaver dogs — on Sunday, the organization shared on Facebook.

According to the post from the Kansas Search and Rescue Dog Association, the young donor got to watch the dogs search for his tonsils in a designated training area, which appeared to be a wide open space with some thorny brush. The boy and his little brother also had the opportunity to hide from the detection dogs and have the canines sniff them out.

In the photos the organization posted on Facebook, a boy with glasses, a navy sweatshirt, and blue jeans pets a light-colored dog during the training day for the HRD canines.

"[The boys] followed the trailing dogs on a search, and they made sure the dogs got extra love," the Kansas Search and Rescue Dog Association said on Facebook, adding that it "was a fun day for everyone!"

Deidra Stanley, the director of the organization, told local news station KSN-TV that there are many ways animal lovers can provide donations to HRD dogs in training.

"People have knee surgery, they can donate the bone and tissue from the surgery," Stanley told the station. "It helps our team to have newer human remains."

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She added that registering to donate bone or tissue to the organization only takes a few steps.

"It is a simple process," Stanley said. "They sign a form and then give it to their doctor to sign, and then they can call us, and we will pick up the item."