Lost in the Woods

One day, a little girl named Tessa asked her mom if she could invite her friend Katelyn over for a sleepover. Her mom agreed. When Katelyn arrived at Tessa’s house the next afternoon, the girls decided to go exploring in the woods close to Tessa’s house. When the girls did not come back inside the house after a while, Tessa’s mom decided to go looking for them. She walked to the edge of the woods and called out to them, but she heard no reply. After looking for them for about an hour, she decided to call 911.

Within hours, nearly 100 police officers and volunteers were searching for them in the woods. One of the officers brought Nickel, a search-and-rescue dog. Tessa’s mom let the dog sniff one of Tessa’s shirts so the dog could learn the girl’s scent. Nickel and her handler set off to look for the girls.

As they were walking down a trail, Nickel suddenly veered off the trail and headed downhill. Nickel led the volunteers down an embankment, and under a tree they found the two girls scared, but unhurt. In less than an hour, Tessa and Katelyn were back with their relieved families. The girls were thankful Nickel had found them. Nickel went home to wait for his next mission.

SAR Dogs

Search-and-rescue (SAR) dogs and special dogs that are called in when a person is lost or trapped. SAR dogs search in remote areas and in places struck by natural disasters such as earthquakes, tornadoes, and hurricanes. SAR dogs are very effective and can often locate people when many volunteers can’t.

Dogs make great searchers because of their powerful sense of smell. SAR dogs are trained to use their incredible sense of smell to search for people. In 2010, SAR dogs from the United States found people trapped in the rubble after a devastating earthquake in Haiti. In 2012, SAR dogs helped locate people who were trapped in their homes after Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast. These are only a few instances when SAR dogs have helped people.