IDU exercise in Gaza region
IDU exercise in Gaza regionIDU

In light of the security escalation, the Israel Dog Unit (IDU), a nonprofit specializing in training and deploying working dogs, has decided to increase readiness in all regions and reinforce training for dogs and dog handlers with the goal of preparing additional operational working dogs to allow a response for any situation.

On Monday, the IDU held a training session  in the Gaza region for scenting and security dogs, which simulated different scenarios likely to occur, including the location and neutralization of terrorists.

The IDU also sent additional preparedness teams to the Galilee region, where there have been several instances of rocket and antitank missile attacks recently, to be prepared for the need to rescue victims from rubble should the attacks collapse a building. 

Numerous buildings in the area have been struck by rockets and missiles over the last few weeks, including a strategic air traffic control base used by the IAF to direct interceptions of hostile targets. 

The IDU has also established a bomb shelter in its Meron station to protect the rescue teams during a rocket attack. Over the last Shabbat alone, 62 rockets were fired into Israeli territory by Hezbollah. 

IDU director Yekutiel Ben-Yaakov commented: “We approach dog training for security and rescue as a sacred task. Following the October 7th massacre, we studied the incident and learned that we need to prepare a national supply of rescue and security dogs to provide a response for any national emergency, whether finding missing people in all kinds of terrain or carrying out security operations.”

“The practice we held in a rubble site, alongside burned-out IDF vehicles in the Gaza region, is intended to simulate a real scenario that we unfortunately encountered not so long ago.”