Search and rescue dog

A search-and-rescue dog is one trained to find missing people after a natural or man-made disaster. The dogs detect human scent and have been known to find people under water, under snow, and under collapsed buildings.[1]

A dog and handler search for survivors of the April 2015 Nepal earthquake.
Red Cross Collie, Italy, 1909.
Austro-Hungarian sanitary dog in WWI, 1914.

Applications

Rescue dog waiting at actual disaster site (2014 Hiroshima landslides)

A cadaver dog searches for human remains at a plane crash site in Greenland.

A dog with aptitude for finding dead bodies or body parts, whether buried, hidden or submerged, may be called a "cadaver dog".[2] In Croatia such dogs have been used to find burial sites almost 3000 years old.[3] Police, death investigators and anthropologists may work closely with cadaver dogs and their handlers. [4]

Training

Riley at World Trade Center post 9-11-2001 attack

Training of a search dog is usually begun when the dog is still a puppy.[5]

Organizations

Numerous countries, cities and regions have search and rescue organizations using dog-and-handler teams that can be mobilized in an emergency or disaster. Here are a few organizations.

Notable dogs

See also

References

  1. Lockett, Michael S. (November 4, 2019). "Keeping a nose out: SEADOGS takes guesswork out of searches". Juneau Empire.
  2. Komar, D. (March 9, 1999). "The use of cadaver dogs in locating scattered, scavenged human remains: preliminary field test results". Journal of Forensic Sciences. 44 (2): 405–408. PMID 10097372 via PubMed.
  3. Dogs show a nose for archaeology by sniffing out 3,000 year old tombs The Guardian, 2019
  4. Rebmann A., David E. (2000). Cadaver Dog Handbook. Taylor & Francis Group. ISBN 978-0-8493-1886-3.
  5. "Training Dogs & Handlers". Canadian Search Dogs. Archived from the original on 1 May 2006. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  6. "Strong Partners". International Rescue Dog Organisation.
  7. "Orión, el perro rescatista en la tragedia de Vargas (Orion, the rescue dog in the Vargas tragedy)" (in Spanish). December 11, 2014. Archived from the original on December 16, 2014.
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