Pooch power: Search dogs recruited to Fire and Rescue Service

Published	12 February 2008

A new elite canine squad is joining the fire and rescue service to sniff out people trapped in collapsed buildings.

Known as 'USAR' - Urban Search and Rescue dogs - they will follow in the heroic and highly professional paw-prints of the dogs that went to the Pakistan earthquake, the USA's 9/11 dogs, and the rescue dogs used during the Boscastle Floods, in Cornwall.

Each dog - usually a collie or springer spaniel - receives specialist training for 18 months to 2 years to develop its acute sniffing skills before being ready for service, and is kitted out with protective boots and jackets.

The dog squad is being funded by a £430,000 investment announced today by Fire Minister Parmjit Dhanda who was visiting Leicestershire Fire and Rescue service to see a practice drill mimicking the conditions of a rescue search.

London will get four rescue dogs, with 16 others assigned to specialist units at fire and rescue services across England that can be swiftly deployed across the country if an incident occurs. Funding for USAR dogs will go to: Avon, Buckinghamshire, Devon and Somerset, Essex, Hampshire, Hereford and Worcestershire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Merseyside, Norfolk, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands, West Sussex and West Yorkshire FRS.

Fire Minister Parmjit Dhanda said:

"These dogs are real life savers as shown by their heroic efforts in all parts of the world. Their skills are crucial to giving the fire service the best possible chance of finding people alive in collapsed buildings. With this investment, the new dog squads can be called to any part of the country whenever needed."

This is just part of the latest £16.7 million grant funding from Communities and Local Government to support the specialist equipment supplied to the Fire and Rescue Service.

Since 9/11 (2001), the Government has invested heavily in the Fire and Rescue Service to ensure that it has enhanced capability to deal with major incidents. The Government has invested over £200million to equip the FRS across England with a wide ranging package of specialist equipment and facilities for mass decontamination, urban search and rescue and high volume pumping.

Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service will have the lead role in coordinating training and establishing a national USAR dog duty rota.

Notes to editors

1. The following FRS that are receiving this funding are able to make their dogs available to be photographed: Essex, Hampshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Merseyside and West Midlands. Please contact them directly:

FRS	USAR Dog's name	Breed of dog	FRS press officer, telephone, email
Essex	Darcey (as in ballerina)	Collie	01277 22 59 33 Christine.connor@essex-fire.gov.uk
Hampshire	Byron	Border Collie	Loretta Spridgeon 023 8062 6812 loretta.spridgeon@hantsfire.gov.uk
Kent	Meg	Springer spaniel	016 22 69 2121 faye.kavvadias@kent.fire-uk.org
Lancashire	Holly and Isla a trainee pup	Collie	John, 01772 866939 johnjtaylor@lancsfirerescue.org.uk
Leicestershire	Gemma	Collie	0116 229 2179 amanda.kelly-pike@lfrs.org
Merseyside	Jake	Border Collie	Sam, 0151 296 4417 samgrady@merseyfire.gov.uk
West Midlands	USAR dogs will join fire investigation dogs		Mike Fox, 0121 380 6101 Mike.fox@wmfs.net

2. The £16.7million grant includes:

West Yorkshire FRS receiving nearly £560,000 to cover the continuing functions of the Fire and Rescue National Coordination Centre for 2007/8. The FRSNCC played a vital role in coordinating the mobilising of the high volume pumps during the summer 2007 floods and readiness for the East Coast tidal surge in November 2007. This is in addition to the nearly £1.2million to cover start up costs in 2005 and ongoing costs to March 2007.
Urban search and rescue crewing, training, and consumables. The crewing costs represent nearly £14.9million, to ensure each USAR FRS can fully crew their USAR team.
USAR dog training, procurement, transport and other costs. It is for FRAs to decide whether to host the canine capability or to contract-in the service.

3. This news release refers to England.