Here’s the latest email message from a publicist representing Alpha Natural Resources:

Dear Ken,

As you continue to bring your readers news about the Appalachian mountain region’s coal industry and developments in mine safety techniques, I thought it might be appropriate to introduce you to Ginny, the world’s first canine specifically trained for coal mining search and rescue.

Ginny, a Dutch Shepherd, is trained to search out missing, trapped, injured or unresponsive humans who are in unstable conditions or in confined areas, and adds an extra layer of safety for miners. Selected from a group of 44 puppies, she comes from a kennel that supplies some of the highest performing dogs in existence to the military and law enforcement and was trained by Bill Dotson, a well-recognized canine behaviorist with expertise in search and rescue.

Ginny was the idea of Alpha Natural Resources, a leading U.S. coal producer, and will make her first official public appearance on June 1st at the Governor’s Cup Mine Rescue Contest in Cedar Bluff, VA, followed by the 2012 National Search and Rescue conference in Lake Tahoe, NV.

If interested, I’d be happy to send through some b-roll of Ginny in action for your review and can also arrange an interview with Ginny and one of the members of a mining search and rescue team to learn more about why Ginny is an important part of mine search and rescue.

For more information about Ginny, please explore http://www.corporateprdev.com/Ginny/ (beta site until the official site goes live June 1).

Here’s some video of Ginny: