Earthquake in Canterbury

admin — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 09:05:01 +0000

Following the 7.1 shallow earthquake on the outskirts of Christchurch we are pleased to say that all CHCH based USAR handlers that were in CHCH at the time are OK and were able to be part of the initial response. Graham, Brenda and TIm were part of the initial response with NZ-TF2 and Janelle was in the Canterbury Civil Defence Emergency Coordination Centre as Regional Operations Manager. USAR dog handlers and TF members from throughout the country are now all in CHCH and assisting with the structural evaluations and support roles.

“Rescue” Dogs with a difference

admin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 07:19:53 +0000

Cool article on use of water rescue dogs in Italy

2010/2011 Management Committee

admin — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 09:10:19 +0000

The 2010/2011 Management Committee for USAR SDA has been confirmed and has been updated on the Contact Page.

Latest US Dogtalk newsletter now available

admin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 07:15:09 +0000

The latest (july 2010) DogTalk newsletter is now available on the Newsletters Page . The barking dog on the first page is in fact Brenda’s Boss…

Dates updated

admin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 06:57:11 +0000

The date for the Northern Regional Training Weekend has been confirmed as the 24/25 September in Auckland, and the Operational Assessments for 16/17 October in Christchurch- the have been updated on the upcoming events page

Article on Kirsti and Tommy

admin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 01:53:01 +0000

Great little article on Kirsti and Tommy from her local online news. Tells the story of so many dogs- rescued become the rescuers!

Link to Animal Academy Story

admin — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 16:44:13 +0000

A link to the Animal Academy story featuring Tim and Boo has been added to the “About USAR Dogs in New Zealand” page of the website

Foundation Training Weekend photos

admin — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 05:42:22 +0000

Hi all- check out some photos from the Foundation Training Weekend held July in CHCH. Have been posted to the gallery – please check back in a few days when hopefully some more there.

admin — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 05:38:19 +0000

Some photos from the Foundation Training Weekend held first weekend in July have been posted to the gallery. Check back in a few days when hopefully some more there…

USAR Dog programme on Animal Academy- update

admin — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 01:18:21 +0000

The programme on USAR dogs that was filmed over last few months, mainly during National Training Weekend and featuring Tim Drennan and Boo will be shown Sunday 27th June 7.30pm on TVNZ 6 (which is a Freeview channel.) You can also get this channel on sky.

From TVNZ website

Sunday June 27 at 7.30pm and Thursday July 1 at 9.30pm:

After 9/11 the New Zealand government set up three teams dedicated to Urban Search and Rescue, known as USAR. These teams are comprised of people from the Police, Civil Defence and Fire Services, as well as Engineers and Medics. The teams are designed to finding people trapped in collapsed buildings.

When it comes to locating survivors, the best way to do it is with a dog because of their sense of smell and trainability. That’s where the USAR Dog team comes in.

Tim Drennan has been training with his dog Boo 6 to 7 hours and week for the past six months. After training is finished Boo will locate people in a Rubble pile and alert searchers to anyone trapped there.

Since we shot the story we are happy to report that Tim and Boo passed their training test with flying colours and are now an operational USAR Search & Rescue Dog Team that can respond to emergencies if needed.

If you would like to know more about the USAR dog team visit http://www.usardogs.org.nz/