Search-and-Rescue Dogs at Work

2 months ago 3

When search-and-rescue teams deploy to any of the numerous natural or man-made disasters around the world, they bring along their own teams of highly trained dogs to help discover victims in need. When these dogs are not in the field, they frequently take part in training sessions simulating events such as earthquakes, wildfires, and water or avalanche rescues. Gathered below are images of some of these rescue dogs and their handlers, on the job and in training, from the past several years.

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Two rescue workers look up toward a search dog that is walking atop the rubble of a collapsed building.

Rescuers use a sniffer dog during a search operation at the ruins of a building collapsed after an earthquake in Mamuju, West Sulawesi, Indonesia, on January 18, 2021. #

Daeng Mansur / AP

People pet and cuddle with a working dog.

Lek, a golden retriever from the Thai K9 Rescue unit, is brought to comfort people waiting for news of missing loved ones at the site of an under-construction building collapse in Bangkok, Thailand, on April 1, 2025, four days after an earthquake struck central Myanmar and Thailand. #

Lillian Suwanrumpha / AFP / Getty

A person in a wetsuit jumps into a lake, followed closely by a rescue dog.

A volunteer with the Italian School of Rescue Dogs (La Scuola Italiana Cani Salvataggio) jumps with a dog during a water-rescue training session at Averno Lake in Pozzuoli, Italy, on October 24, 2024. #

Vincenzo Izzo / Sipa USA / Reuters

A rescue dog works on a pile of rubble on the site of a collapsed building, alongside several rescue workers.

Rescuers deploy a sniffing dog to search for survivors, as dozens of people are believed to have been trapped in the rubble of a collapsed high-rise building that was still under construction, after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck neighboring country Myanmar, in Bangkok, Thailand, on March 29, 2025. #

Daniel Ceng / Anadolu / Getty

Workers pull a rescue dog across a fast-moving river, using ropes.

Workers pull a rescue dog across a river at the site of a landslide in the village of Xinmo, Mao County, Sichuan province, China, on June 25, 2017. #

An Yuan / CNS / Reuters

A rescue worker wearing protective gear carries a dog over the burned remains of a building.

A search-and-rescue worker, looking for Camp Fire victims, carries Susie Q to safety after the sniffer dog fell through rubble at the Holly Hills Mobile Estates on November 14, 2018, in Paradise, California. #

Noah Berger / AP

Workers bathe a rescue dog in a parking lot.

Tullla, a four-year-old Labrador, gets a bath after working in the Pacific Palisades on January 17, 2025. Search-and-rescue dogs from the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation were deployed to assist after wildfires decimated parts of California. #

Megan Smith / USA Today Network / Reuters

A soldier hangs from a parachute, descending with a working dog strapped to the front of their harness.

A search-and-rescue dog named Maca, with the Turkish Gendarmerie General Command, takes part in skydiving training at Sivrihisar Aviation Center in the Sivrihisar district of Eskişehir, Turkey, on October 12, 2023. #

Cem Genco / Anadolu / Getty

A close view of a search and rescue dog wearing a protective mask and a video camera

A closer view of search-and-rescue dog Maca, wearing protective gear and a video camera during training, at Turkey's Sivrihisar Aviation Center on October 12, 2023 #

Cem Genco / Anadolu / Getty

A dog barks while perched at the edge of a concrete pipe.

Search-and-rescue dogs take part in a training session in Ankara, Turkey, on January 9, 2024. #

Omer Taha Cetin / Anadolu / Getty

Two rescue workers walk through a partially-flooded ditch with a sniffer dog.

Disaster-response workers with a sniffer dog conduct a search operation after a child reportedly fell into a stormwater drain following heavy rainfall at Jyoti Nagar in Guwahati, India, on July 5, 2024. #

Pitamber Newar / ANI / Reuters

Soldiers stand beside a bronze statue of a rescue dog.

A monument to a rescue dog named Proteo is unveiled at Marte Military Field, in Mexico City, on September 21, 2023. Proteo, one of the search-and-rescue dogs deployed to Turkey with a team from Mexico to help to find victims of the 2023 earthquake, died while on the job, after finding at least two trapped people. #

Luis Barron / Eyepix Group / Future Publishing / Getty

An avalanche dog takes part in a search and rescue exercise, pulling on a rope held by a person pretending to be stuck in a snowbank.

An avalanche dog takes part in a search-and-rescue exercise for avalanche victims at the French Alps ski resort of La Rosiere, France, on February 4, 2025. #

Olivier Chassignole / AFP / Getty

A member of the Mexican Navy kneels beside a rescue dog that wears booties and goggles.

A member of the Mexican navy kneels beside a rescue dog after an earthquake struck on the southern coast of Mexico in Juchitan, Mexico, on September 10, 2017. #

Edgard Garrido / Reuters

A rescue dog swims through debris-filled muddy water.

A sniffer dog swims through mud and debris during a search for the remaining victim of a flash flood in Hildale, Utah, on September 17, 2015. #

Rick Bowmer / AP

A rescuer with a dog inspects the rubble of a building following a Russian drone attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on March 29, 2025. #

Sergey Bobok / AFP / Getty

A trainer pets one of the search-and-rescue dogs that are helping to train other dogs in Ankara, Turkey, on January 9, 2024. #

Omer Taha Cetin / Anadolu / Getty

A search-and-rescue dog rides at the front of an inflatable boat during a training session.

A search-and-rescue dog takes part in a water-rescue training session in Ankara, Turkey, on November 19, 2024. #

Mehmet Ali Ozcan / Anadolu / Getty

A search and rescue dog runs through a scorched landscape, past burned vehicles and houses.

A search-and-rescue dog works in debris left after the Camp Fire in Paradise, California, on November 16, 2018. #

John Locher / AP

A rescue worker and his search dog prepare to be lifted in the bucket of an excavator, searching for survivors at the site of a deadly explosion that destroyed the Hotel Saratoga in Old Havana, Cuba, on May 8, 2022. #

Ismael Francisco / AP

A swimmer trains with a rescue dog in shallow water near a beach.

A member of an all-female group of canine rescuers from the Italian School of Rescue Dogs (La Scuola Italiana Cani Salvataggio) attends a training session with her dog before patrolling the beach to ensure swimmers can enjoy their time at the sea in safety, in Riva dei Tarquini, near Rome, Italy, on August 25, 2020. #

Guglielmo Mangiapane / Reuters

A volunteer firefighter hugs a dog during a search effort.

A volunteer firefighter hugs a dog during the search for victims of an eruption of the Fuego Volcano in Alotenango, a municipality in Sacatepequez Department, Guatemala, on June 6, 2018. #

Orlando Estrada / AFP / Getty

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