Pearl, a black Labrador Retriever, had been surrendered to a shelter by her owner and was picked up by an organization that trains service dogs for the blind. Pearl never made it though her training. Shes too hyper to be a Seeing Eye Dog, recounted Pearls handler. What was to become of Pearl? Too hyper was music to the ears of the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation. They look for a Wait, Im just getting going attitude from their dogs. Pearl had hope. But first, there were x-rays to ensure that Pearls hips and shoulders could withstand walking on rubble (tests, wed like to add, that good breeders run on any dog in their breeding program) as well as tests to make sure Pearl was okay with walking on shaky surfaces. Unlike sniffer dogs, Search Dogs are off lead and need to be directed from a distance. They need to be able to make their own decisions. Its an incredibly complex set of skills. Pearl passed!! After seven months of training, she was assigned to her new handler and the pair began a year of MORE arduous training. The FEMA certification test gives a dog 20 minutes to search a 6,000 and 15,000 square foot rubble pile with up to six victims hidden in the two piles, and the dog cant miss any of the victims. If the dog alerts to anything other than the human, he or she fails. Pearl passed! There wasnt time to celebrate. Seventeen days after Pearls graduation, an enormous earthquake struck Haiti and Pearl and her handler, Ron Horetski were deployed. It was like a war zone. Pearl had to climb over dead bodies and human remains, and because it was so hot, she needed IVs to keep hydrated. With other teams, Pearl helped recover 12 survivors. Then, in 2011, a devastating tsunami hit Japan in 2011. Pearl was back at work. If the animal rights agenda is realized, we stand to lose the Pearls of the world. HSUS and PETA. Not our friends.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 06:03:00 +0000