Find Out How K9 Rescue Dogs Are Helping To Find Earthquake Survivors In Turkey

Search and rescue dogs from all over the world have traveled to Turkey and Syria to help and find survivors of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the two countries. This proves that indeed dogs are a man’s best friend, even in a time of great need; a dog can always lend a helping paw.

The death toll of February 6’s twin earthquakes has now passed 35 000 and the toll keeps rising. To lend a helping hand K9 teams from around the world were sent from countries like Mexico, El Salvador, Germany, Mexico, Qatar, South Korea, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United States. Read on, because in this article we will take a look at some of these K9 hero dogs and the humanitarian work that they are doing.

What is a K9 (a homophone of canine) dog?

A K9 dogis a dog trained to assist law enforcement and rescue organizations. K9 dog duties include: searching for drugs and explosives, locating missing people, finding crime scene evidence, and protecting people. The most commonly used dog breeds for k9 dogs are:

German Shepherd

Belgian Malinois

Bloodhound

Dutch Shepherd

The retriever family.

REDOG rescue dog team

REDOG  from Switzerland is on the ground in the Turkish city of Iskenderun, working with the local GEA, a Turkish volunteer rescue team. They have a team of 10 people and six dogs. Since their arrival on February 6, they have so far found 39 people alive under the rubble.

How it works is that the dog sniffs out a human scent, stands at the spot, and barks loudly to alert their handlers. A second dog is then released to confirm. After confirmation, the human team begins digging for buried survivors. The dogs work in teams of three at rubble sites, taking turns to work 20-minute shifts, followed by 40-minute breaks.

Every time a REDOG dog finds a person, he or she is praised and rewarded with a toy or food. Among the dogs on the ground in Turkey are Labradors, German shepherds, Belgian shepherds, border collies, and golden retrievers. The dogs have up to seven years of experience working in rescue missions and have helped find survivors after disasters in Japan, Nepal, and Albania.

National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF)

This organization accounts for 7 out of the 12 dogs from the U.S. searching for survivors in Turkey. They believe that dogs are much better at detecting scents than any technology in existence. Dogs are able to sniff distinct scents as deep as 6-9 meters (20-30 feet) below the surface.

For dogs to do this kind of work, they need to have drive, determination, and “boundless energy” because they face the same danger as their human counterparts. They would not make great pets either, because of their high energy

Mexico’s Secretariat of National Defense

This is the famous team of 16 rescue dogs in Mexico sent to Turkey with soldiers to help with the search for survivors. On February 12, were in mourning for Proteo, a search and rescue dog that died while trying to save people trapped under the rubble.

Hundreds of tweets went out of Turks thanking Proteo for his heroic work in the search effort and for putting his life on the line. Proteo was in Adiyaman where Mexican rescue workers found four people alive, carried out 72 medical consultations, and aided in the delivery of three tons of food

Proteo was one of the more than 400 dogs from Turkey and around the world, helping with the search effort (86 from Turkey and 306 from other countries).

Pia and Asko

These two sleek brown hounds were on the German rescue team in Kahramanmaras, the epicenter of the earthquakes. They have helped save more than 10 people who were buried under the rubble

Kopuk (which means “foam” in Turkish)

In Malatya, Kopuk directed an AFAD (Turkey’s state-run relief agency) team to Meral Nakir, a 60-year-old woman trapped in the ruins of a six-story building. The pale golden retriever has become famous on social for saving more than a dozen people trapped under the rubble.

Conclusion

We stand with the people of Turkey and Syria during these devastating times. The silver lining on the grey cloud is that people and dogs alike, are willing to lend a helping hand in this natural disaster. This article was written to bring awareness to the situation in Syria and Turkey and to place the spotlight on the K9 rescue dogs who are putting their lives on the line to find survivors of the twin earthquakes. Please support these rescue dog organizations that are doing amazing humanitarian work.

PetConomist Newsletter is your go-to source for all the latest in the pet industry and the pet economy. For all you pet owners and pet professionals, twice a week we deliver insightful and yet adorable pet content straight into your inbox. Please subscribe here