Search & rescue missions

In situations involving missing persons lost in the forest and similar cases, a handler-and-dog team can cover a search area equivalent to a unit of 10–15 people. The dog can detect the scent of the person being searched for even in an area with no visibility, whether the person is hidden at ground level or up in a tree, while a searcher without a dog can miss an unconscious, well-concealed victim even at a distance of less than 4–5 metres.

In situations involving people trapped under rubble, no other resource can match the effectiveness of dogs. A dog can search an extremely difficult and complex area in a short time — thanks to air currents, it can detect the presence of a person as deep as 10 metres down, without needing enough space to reach all the way to the victim, and without requiring any other person to be exposed to danger. Search dogs therefore cut the time needed to locate victims dramatically, since the measures required for a search by human rescue personnel are not needed; the search can also proceed at the same time as other search-and-rescue operations (machinery, personnel, etc.), making it far superior to searching with detection equipment (sonar and the like, which requires stopping all activity and eliminating all noise).

In situations involving people caught in an avalanche, using dogs is far more effective than traditional probing, and comparable to specialised locator equipment (if the victim was carrying such a device and it was activated at the moment the avalanche was triggered). Depending on the type of avalanche, a dog can locate a victim buried as deep as 5 metres.

In all these situations, reducing the time it takes to locate the victim means, above all, far greater odds that they are still alive and will recover more quickly.

The success of any search-and-rescue mission depends above all on how well the organisations involved in the mission collaborate and are coordinated.

Around the world, the institutions responsible for responding to emergencies, even though they have their own canine search-and-rescue divisions, constantly rely on the support of non-governmental organisations as well. In Romania, search and rescue with dogs, although it has been known to some extent for a few years now, has yet to receive the recognition its effectiveness and usefulness deserve.