With her owner holding her leash, Filipina dog Hazel sniffed through the rubble in a mock search for survivors of a major earthquake in the capital Manila.
Hazel participates in a training program for pet dogs and their owners in search and rescue so they can be deployed after a disaster.
Every Sunday, about 46 bastards and purebreds of all sizes are put into action by volunteer trainers in a facility on the outskirts of Manila where they learn to find people, climb ladders, and bound on wooden structures.
Philippine disaster agencies already have search and rescue dogs that are deployed when disasters strike the archipelago nation.
But there are concerns that it might not be enough if a major earthquake were to hit the sprawling metropolis of Manila.
Hazel, who was a skinny street mutt before she was adopted by her owner Nathalia Chua, doesn’t have the pedigree of some of her classmates.
But he shows great enthusiasm as he follows instructions to search for rubble, overturned water drums and small wooden huts.
The three-year-old barks and wags her tail when she finds a person hiding in a drum, drawing cheers from the trainers and back rubs from Chua.
“My ultimate goal with Hazel is just to be as prepared as possible if the ‘big one’ comes,” Chua, 17, told AFP, referring to a major earthquake that seismologists predict could hit the city one day.
Manila is vulnerable to earthquakes due to its location on the West Valley Fault and its proximity to the Manila Trench off the main island of Luzon.
Seismologists believe that the movement of one or the other could cause a major earthquake in the city of more than 13 million people that could kill tens of thousands.
The MMDA K-9 Corps volunteer group has trained approximately 700 dogs since the program began in 2016.
The goal is to train at least 3,400 pet dogs in search and rescue across the city.
“We all know that for the ‘big one’… we really need to be prepared,” said trainer Katrina Florece, 25, at the training facility of the government’s Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.
Hazel was malnourished and scared when Chua found her in 2021 during a family vacation on the western island of Palawan.
The search and rescue training helped her become calmer and more confident.
“He likes it,” Chua said. “I think that even if the dog doesn’t end up enjoying search and rescue, joining it is a great opportunity to learn and bond with your dog.”
The dogs must complete at least 12 training sessions before they can be deployed in real-life disaster response operations.
American chef Jon Hrinyak, 40, regularly takes his German Shepherd Oly to training in the hope that they might save someone’s life one day.
“Hopefully when something happens … we can be there to help someone,” Hrinyak said.
“One life we can help is worth it.”
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