On June 24, 2021, tragedy struck the town for Surfside, Florida after the residential condo, Champlain Towers, collapsed leaving several people dead and more than 150 people unaccounted for at the time of this writing. Now, one of the largest search and rescue missions in the state’s history has begun. And dogs are working to locate trapped victims and serving as therapy animals to victims’ loved ones.
According to Sinead Imbaro, who trains police and military dogs, the dogs undergo two and half years of training. That’s when they learn to locate survivors under the direst circumstances. And search and rescue teams greatly need those skills in the Surfside disaster.
“It’s really that live breath that they’re looking for,” Imbaro said to WSAV. “For confirmation that there’s somebody hidden in that pile, once they get, or once they locate that breath, or human odor, they will begin to bark for the alert.”
Dogs Also Comfort Families Of The Surfside Condo Collapse
There are never enough words of comfort you can say in the aftermath of unspeakable tragedy. So sometimes it’s best to let our four-legged friends do the talking for us.
The non-profits United Hatzalah and Boriquas de Corazon, among others, provided therapy dogs for the families of the Surfside condo collapse. They’re uplifting spirits the way only dogs know how.
A Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Lucy is currently a big hit with those gathered at the family assistance and reunification center awaiting news.
“They get desperate and have panic attacks and stress, they think everybody is their own family, those are things we are working out to manage,” said one of the volunteers who brought Lucy and other dogs to the premises according to South Florida’s NBC 6.
“Our job and her job was to help soften the conversations with the families” one official told the outlet. The goal is to give search and rescue teams “the maximum amount of information in the minimum amount of pain,”
Knowing where to start helping victims of a tragedy can be tricky. But we can all agree that dogs are a necessity during difficult times such as these. If you wish to donate to Boriquas de Corazon for more therapy dogs for Surfside residents, then please submit your timely contribution here.
If you’d like to know how your dog can become a certified therapy animal, then check out DogTime’s guide here!
Do you have any experience with therapy dogs? Have they ever helped bring you comfort after a tragedy? Then let us know in the comments below.
