LA County search-and-rescue dogs heading to Puerto Rico

PACOIMA, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A Los Angeles County Search and Rescue unit has been activated and will be sent to Puerto Rico, to help victims of Hurricane Maria.

The 27-member team will take a military plane to the U.S. territory and is waiting for details on when their plane will take off.

"It's like a football player finally making it to the Super Bowl. All the training, dedication and hard work," said Jason Vasquez, a K-9 Search Specialist, who has been traveling to natural disasters for the past 12 years.

Two of the most important members of the team are K-9s Ripley and Riley.

Vasquez is assigned to Ripley.

"I can get him to climb up on some trees, some ladders," said Vasquez. "He's very agile. He's a lot more agile than me."

Their mission in Puerto Rico will be to go to areas where people are missing and attempt to rescue them.

The K-9 teams train three times a week. The K-9 sniffs for human life under piles of debris and barks when a person is located.

The L.A. County team will bring boats with them. Some parts of Puerto Rico received up to three feet of rain and flash flood warnings remain in effect.