Meet Coca, Taitung County Fire Department’s best trained rescue dog
Since last week’s 7.2 earthquake in Hualien, much media attention has been devoted to the work of rescue dogs in locating victims trapped under rubble. Dog handlers say that training these dogs is no easy task. According to the Taitung County Fire Department, suitable dogs have to like to eat and play in order to be able to undergo more than 1,000 hours of training. They must also care for humans, and ignore potential distractions from other animals.
The handler gives a command and the dog rushes forward into a pile of rocks. This is Coca, a rescue dog from Taitung that has passed the highest level of evaluations for the job. After more than 1,000 hours of training, Coca has become well equipped to respond to any disasters.
At the most basic level, rescue dogs have to be interested in humans. Due to Taitung’s unique environment, rescue dogs don’t just have to love food and fun, they must also know to remain undisturbed even if provoked by wild boars, chickens or ducks. Physically, they need to be able to climb all the way up to Chiaming Lake.
Lee Yen-chun
Dog handler
Dogs like Coca love to eat and play, so that made training easier. For example, to train search skills, we use foods and toys that Coca likes, to catch the canine’s attention. That way the dog will want to play.
The Taitung County Fire Department has seven rescue dogs. They include Coca, a black Labrador that has passed the International Search and Rescue Dog Organisation’s Rubble Test Level B, the most advanced evaluation of its kind, as well as the MRT, or mission readiness test. Among others in Taitung is also Dawson, a Labrador retriever that passed the IRO’s Rubble Test Level B.
After passing the IRO’s Rubble Test Level B, Coca was eligible to take the mission readiness test. Last December, Taiwan hosted for the first time the IRO’s mission readiness tests for the Asia region. Coca took part in the tests, and cleared evaluations for strenuous assessments in 81 skills lasting 36 hours to attain the highest level of certification for a rescue dog. That has made Coca the top choice to dispatch by the county government.
Lee Yen-chun
Dog handler
Conditions in real rescue missions tend to be more intense, so the dogs really have to go through this kind of training. When you have a dog, you must really take care of it, just as if it were a child of your own. I read a lot of books to take care of Coca.
The handler says training a rescue dog requires as much attention as raising a child. Every step along the way prepares the dogs for any disasters that may come, building up skills that could save people’s lives.
For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53
2024-04-16
