Sara—the Search and Rescue Dog—and her Game of Fetch

Editor’s note: Jana Sweeny is the American Red Cross’s Director of International Communications. She and her team are traveling around Colombia this week, visiting communities made safer by the Red Cross.   As we walk into the Colombian Red Cross training center in Pereira, a yellow lab comes bouncing up, waving her tail enthusiastically. The ball in her mouth turns out to be a lime and she is ready to play fetch. Because I can never say no to a dog, I begin a game of “fetch the lime” with her. It turns out that Sara isn’t just a fun companion–she is a retired search and rescue dog.  The Colombian Red Cross began an intensive program to train both dogs and humans to assist in search and rescue after devastating earthquakes struck the area in the 1980s and ‘90s. The training center houses classrooms, sleeping quarters, and a kitchen since some of the trainings are multiple days and often too far of a drive from people’s hometowns and villages. They teach intensive first aid, as well as search and rescue classes. Behind the center is a labyrinth of rubble punctuated by a multi-story tower. Volunteers practice repelling and rescue techniques. There’s a large metal container, rusted with age, filled with debris that trainees must crawl through to simulate a collapsed structure. This is just one of the training centers located around the country. Some of the centers have been funded by the American Red Cross risk reduction program in Colombia. ...
Source: Red Cross Chat - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Tags: International Preparedness colombia dogs pets Search and Rescue South America Source Type: news