Hero Dogs - Search and Rescue Dogs

Hunter, a border collie trained as a search and rescue dog in the US found 3 girls buried under 4 feet of broken concrete in Haiti the other day. Search and rescue dogs are a huge asset in disasters, as they can cover more ground than people in a quicker amount of time, and thanks to their keen noses they can locate humans by scent from incredible distances. They are used after disasters such as earthquakes, avalanches, building collapses, mudslides, train derailments, missing person searches and were used after both 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. Now, they are being used in Haiti.

Many of the dogs trained for search and rescue were rescued themselves, from shelters where they faced euthanasia due to their high energy levels, which made them difficult to adopt. That energy is what makes them quick learners and great search and rescue dogs.

The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation is a non-profit organization that relies on donations to rescue and train search and rescue teams. They train rescued dogs and pair them with firefighters at no cost to the fire department for emergency response during disasters. Since its founding the SDF has rescued hundreds of dogs from euthanasia and have trained 105 search teams. 72 of those are currently active. Several of the teams are trained and ready for deployment overseas if called for. Check out the SDF website for more information or to make a donation. The training of these dogs costs about $10,000 each, so any donation is greatly appreciated.