Sunny, a five-year-old German Shepard, was at the time of the 0206 Tainan Earthquake rescue operation the only rescue dog trained by the civilian rescue group. At 20 months of age, Sunny obtained his international rescue dog certificate. He passed Taiwan’s advanced rubble search and rescue certification with flying colors and took part in the Kaohsiung Gas Explosion and Tainan Earthquake rescue missions.

The Foundation in June this year became the sponsor of Taiwan Elite International Rescue Association’s rescue dog, Sunny, and invited him to serve as the disaster prevention ambassador. On September 9, Sunny clad in a volunteer vest went to Tainan Kunshan Elementary School for an educational session, in which the Association’s secretary-general, Chu Xing-Zhong first gave the audience a general picture of the rescue association and then conducted a simulated rescue operation leaving the 400 attending students with a deep impression. Two students were also invited to play the role of “victim awaiting rescue”. They excitedly went hiding inside a cardboard box waiting to be sniffed out by the rescue dog who couldn’t see them. Upon receiving the order of the commander, Sunny quickly found the two students and barked next to them, demonstrating his fast search capability and the solid training received. Rest assured that this is no easy feat as the rescue dog needs to first understand the commander’s order and then stay quiet during the search until finding anyone waiting to be rescued. Upon finding a victim, the rescue dog needs to bark continuously for at least 30 seconds to alert the commander to his location.

The instructor also revealed that to become an outstanding rescue dog requires three qualities: an acute sense of smell, playfulness and a love for food. Seeing the students so engrossed in the demonstration, we are certain that this disaster prevention education session has left a deep impression on them.

For more details, please see the link below.https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=21&v=CbW_l6sWDx0