The Israel Dog Unit, a nonprofit specializing in search and rescue, held a training exercise on Wednesday to simulate the use of rescue dogs in a collapsed building.
Israel Dog Unit director Yekutiel Ben-Yaakov commented: “We are raising our preparedness and training for working dogs in light of the situation, and the danger of missile attack from the north, south, and east, as well as the danger of fires and increased shooting in Israeli population centers.”
Earlier this week, a rocket barrage was fired from areas of Gaza the IDF had conquered and then abandoned, with at least 25 missiles fired. One such rocket struck a building in the town of Netivot, prompting firefighters to check the damaged building and nearby impact sites for trapped survivors.
“Our plan to create a national database of dogs with the ability to provide a response to national emergencies, for example a multi-story building collapsing, and the need to search, extract, and rescue people from under the rubble, has become a realistic possibility, for which we must prepare, whether due to natural disaster or an explosion.”
“A significant portion of our training takes place in specialized rubble sites in which the dogs can gain exposure to rubble and practice finding victims or trapped people who are mostly concealed under the rubble. The dogs lead rescue forces to airways from which the breath of the trapped person emerges. Rescue forces then know where to dig to reach a live victim by watching the dogs barking and other indications."