If you have a highly intelligent dog with an aptitude for finding things, the K9 Search and Rescue Association of South Africa might be the perfect thing for your beloved pet.
Cape Town, South Africa (12 May 2022) – The K9 Search and Rescue Association of South Africa (K9SARA) plays a vital role in small-scale search and rescue.
The K9 Search and Rescue Association of South Africa works to train dogs throughout South Africa, but the dogs are not part of official search and rescue organisations; they are essentially highly educated pets belonging to civilians.
K9 SARA is a not for profit volunteer association training air-scenting search dogs to be available for wilderness searches for missing people.
“We are a unit of civilian volunteers who train our dogs in wilderness search and rescue. The dogs use air scenting to locate missing persons. ie: adventurers getting lost/injured in the wilderness, suspected missing persons having left home on foot etc.
They will find any living scent carried on the wind in the area. The dogs cover big areas much faster than a person on foot would and can locate people in hidden areas where a human searcher would not think to look.
Our unit also has scent specific trailing dogs that are useful in following human trails in urban areas as well as wilderness when we have a place last scene.”
These K9s perform incredible tasks and save countless lives, all to do good for others and to get outdoors.
“We want to make people aware of the important job these dogs do. We train the dogs for two years in order to qualify them. They are qualified on international search dog standards and the handlers need to be well-schooled in search techniques and be able to read their dog in order to not miss anything.”
We previously reported how the association was using the Two Oceans Aquarium as a training facility after hours as it posed a good challenge for the dogs needing to find a specific scent in high-traffic areas.
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“We act on instruction from the Police, Emergency Services, Disaster South Africa and Off Road Rescue Unit Wilderness SAR and are available to whomever may require our services at NO CHARGE.”
“The Unit works both locally in and around South Africa as well as internationally if called upon.”
You can find out more about this volunteer organisation here; whether to support, seek assistance or enrol your own dog.
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