Trained rescue dogs are helping to find survivors buried underneath layers of concrete and otherwise undetectable.
Hours after two huge earthquakes and hundreds of aftershocks struck southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria on February 6, some much-needed rescuers began to arrive in Turkey – K9 teams from around the world that had come to lend a hand to GEA, a Turkish volunteer rescue team.
K9, a homophone of canine, is a dog specially trained to assist security forces and emergency teams – in rescues, drug enforcement or other operations. These dogs came from, among other countries, El Salvador, Germany, Mexico, Qatar, South Korea, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United States.
The much-welcomed rescuers, who can find victims by scent alone, are needed to help the Turkish K9 teams in desperate operations where buildings as high as 14 storeys have collapsed, making it difficult to find survivors by sight or sound.
REDOG, a K9 volunteer team from Switzerland, is on the ground in the Turkish city of Iskenderun, working with the local GEA team, an all-volunteer search and rescue group.
Since arriving on February 6 near midnight, the team of 10 people and six trained dogs together with GEA have so far found 39 people alive under the rubble.
The dogs are trained to sniff out a human scent, stand at the spot and bark loudly to alert their handlers to the spot where they have found it. A second dog is then released to see if it can confirm the findings.
If the two dogs confirm, this allows human rescuers to concentrate their digging efforts on that particular spot until they find the person.
“I think it’s one of the most emotional moments of my life … the moment when one of our dogs signals to us that he found some people in the rubble,” REDOG’s vice chief for rubble search Matthias Gerber told Al Jazeera.
The dogs work all day in teams of three at rubble sites, taking turns to work 20-minute shifts, followed by 40-minute breaks.
In one case after their dogs signalled the location of where people were buried, human rescuers began digging at the spot and soon heard knocking coming from behind the rubble from the victims trapped inside, confirming what the dogs had already pinpointed.
“Eight hours later of hard work, they saved four people alive from this position,” Gian Forster, REDOG team leader who works with three dogs, told Al Jazeera.
Every time a REDOG dog finds a person, he or she is praised and rewarded with a toy or food.
“He really likes to find people because he gets rewarded every time,” Forster said. “The main thing is that the dog has fun and likes to search for the people.”
If the survivor isn’t buried too deep, the dogs can pick up on the scent quite quickly. But some buildings in Iskenderun have six floors that have collapsed with 2-3 metres (4-6 feet) of concrete pancaked in between each level, making it a challenge to find people buried more deeply.
“If it takes time for the scent to come up, we have to go [to the spot of debris] and remove some [floors of] rubble and try again. It’s quite a hard process if the person is buried that deep,” Gerber said.
Describing a recent rescue, Gerber said: “We arrived at the rubble field and we started searching on top of the roof of the building, and we didn’t get any scent there. And then Gian thought about how the wind is coming from the west, so we searched the east side of the rubble and there, the dogs [detected] the scent from the person.”
The dogs working with REDOG on the ground in Turkey – among them labradors, German shepherds, Belgian shepherds, border collies and golden retrievers – have up to seven years’ experience working in rescue missions and have helped find survivors after disasters in Japan, Nepal and Albania.
But, Gerber said, in the last 30 years of his rescue dog work, the current mission in Turkey is the most challenging and tragic that he has experienced, referring to the scale of destruction.
“For our dogs, it’s very hard if there is so much rubble on top of the victims to find them. It’s a big obstacle for us. It’s good if we can come back to the same rubble site after they removed some floors of rubble and search again, because then we’ll have a chance to find people alive even if they’re buried very deep,” Gerber said.
Murat Kurum, the Turkish minister of environment, urbanisation and climate change, has said that more than 41,700 buildings in 10 affected provinces in the country’s southeast had either collapsed, urgently needed to be torn down or were severely damaged, according to state news agency Anadolu.
At least 1,791 buildings in 10 provinces that were affected have been identified as being severely damaged or requiring immediate demolition.
“It’s horrible what happened here. All these collapsed buildings, all these people who lost their relatives, their homes. It’s horrible,” Gerber said.
“We are happy to help here with our dogs, to get people out alive. It’s really important. It really moves me that we can help here.”
So far, of the 2,000 calls that GEA has received, REDOG, working with the GEA, has answered about 200 of them, he said.
California-based NGO National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF) has trained seven of the 12 rescue dogs deployed from the US currently searching for survivors in Turkey.
Denise Sanders, director of communications and search team operations, told Al Jazeera that the dogs are “so much better at detecting scents than any technology that we have”.
“They run over the top of rubble and do what’s called air sensing. They’re picking up those scent particles in the air and then following their nose quite literally to the strongest scent source, and that would be the point of the potential victim,” Sanders said.
Knowing from past experience working in the aftermath of earthquakes such as in Haiti, she said dogs have shown that they are able to sniff “very distinct scents that are very dispersed in the air”, as deep as 6-9 metres (20-30 feet) below the surface.
“In Haiti in particular, we had collapsed buildings that had been six, seven storeys tall that pancake-collapsed … We know that the dogs were able to locate [the survivors] and alert,” Sanders said.
For a dog to be trained and skilled at finding survivors, they naturally need to have drive, determination and “boundless energy”, Sanders said.
“This is not your pet that you toss the toy for in the back yard a couple of times and they kind of get tired and lay down. These dogs will go until they drop, until you tell them it’s time to stop.
“That kind of resilience and determination is exactly what we need… they’re [on the ground] for one, two weeks and they need to cover a massive area, and check so many different sites and run over so many different mountains of rubble.
“They don’t necessarily make great pets [due to their high energy]; they are not able to settle quite as well as the average dog, so we really try to channel that into a job that they love.”
The K9 rescuers are dedicated to their work, and they face as many dangers as their human partners do. Proteo, a German shepherd working with the Mexican rescue team in Kahramanmaras, died this past week when the remains of a building he was searching in fell on him. He has been honoured as a hero by the Mexican defence ministry.
The members of the Mexican army and air force. We deeply regret the loss of our great companion, the dog: Proteo. You fulfilled your mission as a member of the Mexican delegation in the search and rescue of our brothers in Turkey. Thank you for your heroic work.
Bachelor Party Takes Unexpected Turn When They Hear Dog Barking In The Mud, Leading to an Unforgettable Rescue Mission.
Bachelor parties are a fun way to celebrate the ending of singlehood and the beginning of married life. Some people go absolutely wild in Vegas, some enjoy a quiet celebration with just a few buddies – there are a plethora of ways to have that last ‘huzzah’. Mitch White planned to have a relaxing canoe trip with his closest buddies. The groom-to-be had no idea that this trip would turn into a rescue mission for an elderly dog stuck in the mud. That’s a bachelor party he surely won’t forget.
Image credits: Carver County Sheriff’s Office
One lovely day, Mitch, a young groom-to-be, gathered his closest friends and set out on a canoe trip to celebrate his upcoming marriage. This bachelor party was supposed to be all about nature and bonding. And is there a better way to bond than rescuing a pup together?
Just after the group had lunch and moved on with their journey, Mitch’s nephew, Gaylen Fraenkel, heard a sad barking. They hadn’t encountered anyone, so it was highly unlikely it was some camper’s dog. The young man decided to turn the canoe around to make sure everything was okay. And good thing he did – a desperate dog was stuck in thick mud and using his last bits of strength to call for help.
Upon closer inspection, they saw that the poor fella was an elderly Saint Bernard. He was very thin and exhausted with a nasty tick attached to his eye. The rest of the group turned their canoes around and jumped in to help. The mud was so deep and thick, everyone sunk up to their knees. But they were relentless in their attempt to rescue the dog, using oars as shovels to dig him out.
Mitch White was out on his bachelor party trip with his closest friends. The guys were canoeing when they heard barking
Image credits: WCCO – CBS Minnesota
When they approached the shore they saw a dog asking for help, completely stuck in the mud
Image credits: WCCO – CBS Minnesota
The guys quickly jumped out and started digging him out, using oars as shovels
Image credits: WCCO – CBS Minnesota
To keep the pooch comfortable, they offered him water, of which he drank half a gallon before stopping. The kind guys shared their lunch with him, giving him some lunch meat and summer sausages. This quick snack was supposed to give him an energy boost to get up. The bachelors named him Wilson and called out his new name in an attempt to get him up, but he was too tired, even after the delicious summer sausages.
The group didn’t want to approach Wilson too closely as they didn’t see any collar and weren’t sure if he was friendly. That’s a good practice when dealing with a dog you don’t know.
Alex, one of Mitch’s friends, decided it was time to call for help and dialed up 911. He explained the situation and they dispatched the Carver Fire Department, who came to Wilson’s aid in 20 minutes. They brought a harness that they were able to get under his chest and the fire department men, together with two of Mitch’s friends, pulled Wilson out of his muddy prison. Hurray!
Image credits: WCCO – CBS Minnesota
Thanks to the kindness of the bachelors and help from the local fire department, the adorable pooch was rescued
Image credits: Carver County Sheriff’s Office
After a successful rescue mission, Wilson was in for another pleasant surprise. Five minutes after he was pulled out of the mud, his owner showed up. He was surprised to see his four-legged pal all covered in mud. “Ed! What are you doing down there in the mud?!” he exclaimed at the sight of his dog. That’s how Mitch and his friends found out they’d been calling Ed the wrong name. Although he does look like a Wilson to me.
A couple of days ago, Mitch got a pleasant surprise when a friend of the owners reached out to him. He wanted to let Ed’s saviors know that he was doing much better, recovering nicely and was already moving around on his own. I bet his owners won’t let him out of their sight now.
Ed, a lovely senior Saint Bernard, was reunited with his owner and is feeling much better
Image credits: WCCO – CBS Minnesota
Adorable Ed was clearly born under a lucky star. Mitch’s party found him just in time to get him to safety. But what if they hadn’t found him?
Owners want the best for their dogs – the best treats, loads of toys and freedom to roam and explore. Unfortunately, letting your dog off the leash can be very dangerous as they can get lost like poor Ed here. They might decide to snack on something dangerous that can result in a stack of medical bills and a long and painful recovery. Keep an eye on your pet to avoid injuries or some malicious person trying to steal your beloved pooch.
Walks with their human are the highlight of any dog’s day and they look forward to it. It’s that one time of the day when they have your undivided attention and love, so try to make the best out of it. Avoid going on your phone or listening to music; instead, try talking to your dog and watch their face light up when you say, ‘hey buddy!’. The more fun activities you do, the stronger the bond you create with your pooch. Look into those eyes and remember that you are everything to them, so make the most of the short time you have together.
People in the comments praised the bachelors for their act of kindness
Leave a Reply