Former Cameron Highlander, retired Northern Constabulary sergeant and founding member of the Search and Rescue Dogs Association, Kenny Mackenzie, has died aged 94.
Kenny – whose pioneering work in training and assessing dogs and their handlers for both mountain rescue and in post-disaster searches – was made MBE in 1994.
Dogs trained by Kenny were used as part of the search and rescue operation after the Lockerbie disaster.
Highland upbringing
Kenneth “Kenny” MacKenzie was born on December 18 1928 in Inverness. His mother, Janet, stayed at home to raise Kenny, his brother Ally and sister Elma. His father, Kenneth, worked as a groomsman.
Kenny attended Central School, Inverness before moving on to city’s High School. From an early age, he developed a love of the outdoors.
Around the age of 14, Kenny left education to find paid work. At 17, he and his best friends enlisted with the Cameron Highlanders. A keen bagpipe player he was in the pipe band section for two years before moving on to the intelligence section.
While in the army he was stationed in Egypt, Libya, Malaysia and Tunisia.
Northern Constabulary
In 1953, after six years in the army Kenny left to join the police.
One of his first postings within the Northern Constabulary was to Invergarry. More than 1500 workers were there to build the Quoich dam so Kenny was stationed there as a police presence. Also based at the dam was young nurse Mairi Chisholm from Cannich.
The pair fell in love and later married on February 19, 1955 in Inverness.
They moved around whenever Kenny was posted to another police station.
Over the years he and Mairi lived in Beauly – by which point their three children had been born – then on to Portree, Kinlochleven, Brora and then back to Inverness in 1979 as a sergeant.
However, in between times Kenny’s real passion – mountain rescue and dog handling – formed.
Search and rescue dogs
In the late 50s into the early 60s, Hamish MacInnes founded what would become SARDA – Search and Rescue Dog Association. Hamish had been abroad and seen how dogs were being used in Switzerland and came back enthused about doing something similar.
As a policeman, Kenny had been involved in mountain rescues and would also go on to be a police dog handler. He joined Hamish in becoming founding member of SARDA.
For the rest of his life, Kenny would be involved as a practitioner, trainer, assessor and later secretary of the organisation, and his influence is still seen across the world today.
Testing the dogs
Soon after SARDA’s formation Kenny put into place measurable tests to ensure the dogs were capable of the job set before them.
One such check was the sheep test.
“If the dogs could walk around the pen and not show any interest in the sheep – and still listen to commands – they passed that test. If they were completely distracted it would be no good,” said Bill Michie, instructor and assessor.
At that point, Kenny introduced training for those wishing to join SARDA as well.
“He brought in a beginner level and then an advanced level qualification – with 12 months between each assessment.
“His work earned Kenny an MBE. You have to remember, back then there were no qualifications to being part of a mountain search and rescue team. So this meant the person going was able to handle the dog and know the safety measures required.”
As the scheme grew teams from all over the UK and beyond would bring their dogs to Kenny and his team to be assessed. Later, SARDA assessors would travel all over the country re-assessing handlers in their own localities.
Magazine coverage
Until the early 70s funding for SARDA was difficult to come by.
Kenny approached Tom Weir – a famous mountaineer – to attend the course, based in the Kingshouse Hotel, Glencoe.
Afterwards, Weir wrote an article for Scots magazine – featuring an image of Kenny on the cover, taken by Hamish McInnes.
This bolstered the reputation of the course, gave them much-needed publicity and helped bring in funding.
Around the same time, Kenny and Hamish designed a winching harness.
For the first time, it enabled helicopters to pick up the handler and the dog and winch them to safety together.
Mountain man
As distinct from his involvement in SARDA, and by virtue of being a policeman in Highland locations, Kenny would be called upon throughout his police career to help in mountain rescues.
Though initially “more of a policeman than a climber” he went on to climb to a good standard and was involved in some very protracted rescues.
John Grieve was leader of Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team during Kenny’s time on the hills.
He said: “I met Kenny in the mid 60s, in Kinlochleven. He had been in Portree and there he started going out with the rescue team. I was a climber but he didn’t start that way. However, he had a passion for it and joined our team.
“Wherever he was based he would be involved in mountain rescue. In Fort William on one occasion, of the many times he was called out, he had to go to Ben Nevis. Two young boys were killed and he and I were both involved in bringing the bodies back down. Kenny also had the onerous task of being the one to visit the holiday home of the parents to break the news to them.”
Rescue coordinator
Before Kenny left the police, he became sergeant in charge of police dogs. He was also appointed mountain rescue coordinator for the police.
John added: “It was a huge remit coordinating everything from Glencoe to Lochaber, Skye to the Cairngorms. It really was basically the main body for Scotland.
“It would always annoy him that he was never really considered a climber because he joined the team as police and not as a climber. But I was often on the hills with Kenny. He could climb.
“He was a great man. Very funny, very warm.”
New ventures
Mairi retired in the early 80s and when Kenny stepped back from policing they bought a restaurant in Glencoe. They gave 15 years to the Clan MacKenzie – during which time the restaurant in particular became a favourite stop-off for bus tours and visitors.
From there they bought a smaller guest house in Fort William, before eventually returning to Inverness.
“One of my dad’s favourite hobbies was to go up Ben Nevis with his friend Jimmy – doing their ‘elderly lost gents’ act. Much to the surprise then, of younger walkers when they could navigate the difficult stretches of the route,” said Lesley Sanderson, Kenny’s daughter.
Final years
Mairi passed away in 2018 following declining health due to dementia. Kenny’s family moved to be nearer to him. Still managing to go out walking into his late 80s, he loved to spend time with his two grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
A fall leading to a broken hip in late 2022 slowed him down, but he was back on his feet and powering though physio. However, a chest infection led to pneumonia and on February 11 Kenny died, surrounded by family.
A celebration of his life featured a piece of music composed by John Barlow for Kenny and Mairi’s 60th anniversary.
Lesley added: “My dad was such an easy-going man. He never got annoyed about things and was never confrontational. A very kind and compassionate man, who was good company, and always had good strength of character.
“We miss him terribly. To get to 94 in good health after the life he lived is a huge accomplishment. One we are very grateful for.”
Conversation