Dogs return from mission of mercy in Peru

[Robbien]

Source: Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON -- For two Edmonton dogs assigned to search through the rubble of earthquake-torn Peru, the difference between life and death was a bark and a whimper.

"For my dog, when she's looking for victims, if it's a live body she'll bark quite loudly," said Neisja Ruth, a trainer with the Edmonton-based Canadian Search and Disaster Dogs Association. "If it's a dead body, she'll only scratch in place and whimper." . . . Unfortunately, the majority of sounds coming from the dogs were whimpers, Montier said - only two of the many victims they found had vital signs.

. . .

Most experts recommend search-and-rescue dogs work for four hours at a time with hour-long breaks in between. But due to the chaos and lack of trained canines in Peru, the Canadian dogs put in shifts that lasted as long as 11 hours, Montier said .

The International Rescue Dog Organization dispatched 11 dogs to Peru, of which only Dante and Kiora were from North America.

Ruth said both dogs became emotionally affected by the lack of survivors. "After the third day I could see Kiora was getting stressed," she said. "I could tell she didn't really want to go to work. She'd go to a pile but what she really wanted to do is run away. She wanted to sleep all the time, she didn't want to eat. She was depressed."

. . .

Both dogs have recovered since they landed in Edmonton late Thursday evening, Montier said, but they won't be able to rest on their laurels. "They both have training Sunday," Montier laughed.



Read more: http://www.canada.com/topics/technology/science/story.html?id=d7dd9162-da9d-45b7-8932-a84fb03b8e50&k=69673

[StarryNite]

1. SAR dogs are amazing.

So are their handlers.

[hlthe2b]

2. Tears reading this...

All my love and admiration to these dogs and their owners/handlers....:toast:

[Judi Lynn]

3. Thanks for this article. It reaches zones beyond speech abilities for some of us.

Silvie Montier and Dante.

[Robbien]

4. I agree

While reading several articles on the Peru devastation and recovery efforts, there were so many to choose from to post here, all with interesting information, but this one really tugged at the heart strings.