Davey, a six-year-old Springer spaniel, has served with Lancashire Fire and Rescue for nearly five years – and has now returned from his first international deployment.
Davey spent ten days in searching for survivors with UK International Search and Rescue (UK ISAR) – the only dog in the team to have once been himself in need of rescue, having been adopted from Dogs Trust Shoreham in 2018.
“Alongside his handler and UK ISAR Canine Team Lead, Lindsay Sielski, Davey was part of Red Team One working on the ground,” Dogs Trust said in a statement. “They arrived within 72 hours of the earthquake with Davey searching around 40 buildings per day. He helped to find three survivors and provided vital intelligence for the rest of the team about where to focus their rescue efforts.”
Speaking about Davey and the rescue mission, Lancashire Fire and Rescue Canine Team Lead Lindsay Sielski said, “We worked 18-hour days during which Davey searched tirelessly. He located a female casualty on the first day of searching who went on to be successfully rescued.”
“Davey is a very special search dog. He is so agile and his dexterity is phenomenal. He doesn’t get overly excited on searches, he doesn’t give wrong answers, he works effortlessly and methodically – it is beautiful to witness. He has the magical on-off switch. He comes home at the end of the working day with me as part of the family and is a different dog.
“Search dogs like Davey play such a vital role that not only protects the health and safety of all Fire and Rescue teams, but they also protect our mental health by searching in areas we can’t. Davey and the other three dogs deployed to Turkey carried out their work flawlessly.”
Davey arrived at Dogs Trust Shoreham in March 2018 as a one-year-old youngster after his owner could no longer care for him. One month after being handed into Dogs Trust’s care, Davey was a search dog in training in Lancashire. His everyday job with Lancashire Fire and Rescue involves searching collapsed buildings throughout the UK and he also works with Lancashire Police searching for vulnerable missing people.