.jpg)
.jpg)
Meet CODIS
Hi, I’m Ashley Russell. Service has become a way of life for me.
Having been a part of Lone Star PAWZ since its beginning and volunteering in search and recovery for six years, service has become my way of life. My dedication to this path solidified in July 2025 during the devastating Texas floods, where assisting with recovery efforts made it clear that K-9 search and recovery was my lifelong calling. Today, I am incredibly proud to introduce CODIS, a professionally trained Human Remains Detection K-9 purchased and sponsored by Lone Star PAWZ. CODIS began training at eight weeks old and will complete approximately 14 months of professional training before officially joining me in September 2026.
Bringing CODIS home is just the beginning of a journey that requires hundreds of hours of continued training and evaluation to ensure we learn to work seamlessly as one team. Lone Star PAWZ is generously sponsoring CODIS’s ongoing veterinary care, equipment, travel, and training. I am deeply grateful for this investment, and my responsibility now is to honor it by training rigorously, learning constantly, and meeting the high standards expected of a working K-9 handler so that we are fully prepared when our skills are needed.
Lone Star PAWZ and Texas EquuSearch are separate organizations with distinct missions, each independently supporting my professional development and service. In my role as Assistant Director of K-9 Operations with Texas EquuSearch, I plan to train CODIS alongside its K-9 team, subject to the organization’s rigorous evaluation and mission-readiness requirements. With paws and boots on the ground—supported by Lone Star PAWZ, trained with purpose through Texas EquuSearch, and committed to serving families and communities—CODIS and I will be prepared to respond when authorized and called to action.
