Sylvia Arango has been involved with dogs and dog training since her early teens.  She has shown numerous dogs in conformation, competitive obedience, agility and tracking.  In addition to being an obedience instructor for two local Miami dog clubs, she has held the positions as training director, secretary, board member and President of the Miami Obedience Club (MOC). It was during her tenure as president of MOC that she was introduced to the world of Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) when Hilda Wood, a firefighter and member of Florida Task Force 1 (FLTF1), came to speak about USAR at a club meeting in 1998. 

Sylvia worked with members of FLTF1, was a member of Florida Special Response, Team A and later was invited to become a member of Florida Task Force Two (FLTF2), were she held the position of Canine Coordinator.  She is currently a FEMA Canine Training Mentor and Canine Search Specialist. Sylvia has certified 2 FEMA disaster search canines and within the last year, certified her first Human Remain Detection (HRD) dog.

As a canine handler for FLTF2, Sylvia has been deployed numerous times to assist with search and rescue operations; she responded in the aftermath of the four hurricanes that stuck Florida in 2004.  Was deployed twice after Hurricane Katrina to Gulf Port, Mississippi and then again to New Orleans. Then in 2008, was deployed once again to Louisiana after Hurricane Ike struck the gulf  states. Recently, Sylvia was asked by the Palm Beach Sherriff’s Office to assist with the search of a missing person.

Sylvia has travelled extensively throughout the country with her dogs, attending SAR seminars and training camps.  She has lived in Miami, Florida since 1986 and is a special education teacher with the Miami – Dade County Public School system.