UPWr supports emergency service rescue dogs

• The UPWr is offering comprehensive veterinary care for rescue dogs, including retired dogs
• Rescue dog handlers: - We need the university's support because we have to pay for looking after and treating them ourselves
• Four-legged heroes save people from avalanches, rubble and water. They are invaluable in many operations

Partnership between the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences and the Mountain and Water Volunteer Rescue Services, as well as the Volunteer Fire Department in looking after rescue dogs and retired rescue dogs has been underway for several years. This week an extension until 31 August 2024 was signed. 

Comprehensive veterinary care for all rescue dogs

– We are proud of this partnership. Rescue dogs deserve special care, including veterinary care, for what they do for humans. Therefore, as part of the agreement, specialist consultations, diagnostic tests, essential laboratory analyses and treatment of the dogs will be free of charge, and their owners will only pay for the materials used – says Prof. Jarosław Popiel, Head of the Department of Internal Medicine with the Clinic for Horses, Dogs and Cats at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the UPWr.

– Working dogs most often come to us with injuries, but the ones who need the most attention are those who have already retired from their 'rescue service’. They often have joint, cardiac and dental problems – adds Dr. Grzegorz Sapikowski from the Department of Clinical and Laboratory Diagnostics.

Magdalena Szewczyk-Dzido, a rescuer in the Search and Rescue Group of the Volunteer Fire Department in Wałbrzych and the owner and handler of four rescue dogs: Frida, Stitch, Petarda and Bagheera, currently being trained for rescue, emphasises that the partnership with the university is very important for dog rescuers.

Rescue dog handlers need the universities support

– Here we can count on comprehensive, specialised examinations using state-of-the-art equipment, qualified staff and, last but not least: we can always count on help - says the rescuer, adding that the dogs working in the Water Volunteer Rescue Service, Mountain Volunteer Rescue Service and Volunteer Fire Department Search Groups are private dogs belonging to the volunteers, who live with them on a daily basis and it is they who bear the costs of caring for them and treatment.  – This is why the support of institutions such as the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences is so important – emphasises Magdalena Szewczyk-Dzido.

Asked about the aptitude a dog must have to become a rescuer, she says it is a long process.

– To start off with, it must be of the right breed, as well as be fit and willing to work with people. We then choose a breeder that will guarantee healthy, tested parents. Socialisation is carried out from puppyhood. We check the aptitude for future work in dogs as young as seven weeks old: their willingness to follow humans, play, explore the environment, curiosity and courage. Rescue dogs should not be easily scared, afraid of noise or walking on unstable surfaces. Instead, they must be physically strong, tenacious, and determined to pursue their goals – only then will they be able to search for humans. When the dogs are about 12 months old they undergo mental tests. Then at the age of at least 18 months they take exams. They must be at least two years old in order to be able to take the exam authorising them to take part in rescue operations – explains Magdalena Szewczyk-Dzido.

The four-legged heroes rescue people from avalanches, rubble and water

Voluntary Fire Department dogs are used to search for humans, and the same goes for dogs from the Mountain Voluntary Rescue Service, which can additionally specialise in terrain and avalanche rescue. During rescue operations they search for both living people and dead bodies. When they find a missing person they signal by barking at the place or by returning to the handler with an appropriate signal – usually they have a small lead around their neck, which they grasp in their mouth to signal their success.

In the Karkonosze Mountain Volunteer Rescue Service group dogs were first used in the mountains as early as in 1968 in Biały Jar after an avalanche that swept away 24 people. Two dogs from the Czech emergency service then found 9 of the 19 victims of the biggest disaster in the Polish mountains so far.

In the Water Volunteer Rescue Service dogs work with the support of a lifeguard, and can haul drowning people or floating equipment out of the water, and bring a lifebelt, buoy, paddle or rope to the drowning person.

– A well-trained rescue dog should first and foremost work independently in all situations – unanimously agree the handlers of four-legged heroes.

Photos: Martyna Kostrzycka, Mountain Volunteer Rescue Service archive and Volunteer Fire Department archive

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