New Delhi: Romio, Rambo, Honey and Julie — these are the four Labradors that India has sent to the worst-hit areas of Turkey, where rescue operations to pull out people from under the rubble have been going on for the last three days.
The trained dogs, three males and a female, who have played key roles in rescue operations in the past, are part of the two battalions comprising 100 personnel from the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) sent to the earthquake-hit country.
Central Turkey and northwest Syria was jolted by a strong 7.8 magnitude earthquake on Monday, followed by strong aftershocks, which has killed nearly 16,000 people till now.
The epicentre of the first earthquake was in Gaziantep, about 90 kilometres from the Syrian border, where buildings have been flattened and tremors were felt as far away as Iraq. This is the region which houses millions of refugees from the Syrian civil war.
Rescue efforts in the past
Honey, who is 7 years old, is the eldest of the pack, while Romeo and Julia are 6 years. Rambo is a little over 4.
A senior NDRF officer said all four of them are very fit and have been part of several operations in the past. “They are highly trained and have located and pulled out several people alive from under the rubble in the past. They are an asset,” the officer vouched for them.
Romio and Julie were part of the rescue operation after a flyover collapse at Kolkata’s Majerhat in 2018. “Both the dogs did an amazing job and helped in locating several victims alive,” the officer said.
Rambo has participated in an operation where a cremation hall had collapsed in UP’s Muradnagar in 2021.
The oldest, Honey, has been part of several operations in UP. The officer listed that he has helped in rescue efforts in Bilal Masjid, Muradnagar, Khurja, Greater Noida and Akash Nagar in Ghaziabad.
The officer said that besides trained personnel and various disaster management equipment, trained canines – which are part of NDRFs search and rescue teams – act as “force multipliers”.
He called them “an asset during operations”, whether on a location hit by earthquake, cyclone or tsunami and even during disasters such as fire and building collapse.
“Canines help the force in undertaking rescue operations. We have a large pool of trained canines. These dogs had been trained for search and rescue work, usually to locate live victims who may be trapped under the rubble and they also help in searching dead bodies,” the officer said.
During the Nepal earthquake in 2015, 16 NDRF teams responded with 18 canines and they helped rescue 11 people.
The NDRF has also sent another team, along with two more canines to Turkey on Wednesday, the officer said.
Also read: Indian restaurateur in Turkey offers food, refuge to people displaced by earthquake
‘Dogs to be trained for underwater operations’
In a first of a kind exercise, the force is now training sniffer dogs in detecting bodies under water.
“The NDRF is giving special training to a few sniffer dogs. It is the first-of-its-kind training exercise in the country and is being given at 2nd Battalion in Kolkata,” the officer said.
The mode of operation, however, will be different in tanks, wells, rivers, lakes and during heavy floods, he added.
NDRF is also increasing the number of sniffer dogs and is setting up more kennels and breeding facilities in the battalions. “Looking at the success of operations in the past and contribution of the canines, setting up kennels and breeding facilities in most battalions is our future plan,” the officer said.
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