Treatment of Korean rescue dogs in eathquake-hit Turkey ignites animal rights debate

Six-year-old rescue dog Tobaek, a Labrador retriever, sniffs out missing people during a search operation in Turkey's southern city of Antakya, last Friday. Tobaek is one of the four Korean rescue dogs sent to the disaster site where a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck last Monday. Yonhap

By Lee Hae-rin

Specially trained dogs sent to assist in search and rescue missions with their Korean disaster relief teams in earthquake-hit Turkey have taken center stage for their heroic role in saving lives.

Last Thursday, along with the Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT), four rescue dogs from Korea ― Labrador retrievers "Tobaek" and "Tina," and Belgian Malinois "Tori" and "Haetae" ― were sent to Antakya in southern Turkey, where a deadly 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck last Monday.

The KDRT comprises 118 members, mainly consisting of firefighters and foreign ministry and army personnel. The canines are four of 12 trained and experienced rescue dogs on duty at the National 119 Rescue Headquarters under the National Fire Agency.

Rescue dogs are trained to trace the human scent and locate human beings, alive or dead. The olfactory and auditory capabilities of dogs depends on their breed, but trained rescue dogs are known to have 10,000 times better smell and 50 times better hearing than humans.

They are the unsung heroes of disaster sites. Trained to bark or scratch when they detect a human scent among collapsed buildings, rescue dogs make search and rescue more efficient in heavily damaged disaster sites where debris and wreckage cannot be removed and where humans trapped underneath concrete and metal cannot make themselves noticed.

The four dogs on the rescue mission in Turkey are trained and experienced animals who have been deployed to disaster sites in Korea before, the rescue headquarters' team in charge of the rescue dog training told The Korea Times, Monday. The Korean disaster sites included the apartment demolition site in Gwangju last February.

Countries including Taiwan, Japan, Mexico, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Libya, Poland, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States have also deployed rescue dogs there.

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But the footage of Tobaek, a 6-year-old Labrador retriever whose right front paw was injured and bandaged while on duty sparked a debate over safety for rescue animals.

Tobaek injured his front right paw he stepped on sharp debris while on a search and rescue mission. The dog's injured paw was bandaged up and he was sent back to work at the search site.

While many praised the rescue dogs' dedication to saving human lives in dangerous sites, some online raised questions about the need for rescue dogs to be provided with protective gear.

A rescue dog from the Mexican Navy, Frida, is pictured during a training session in Mexico City, on Sept. 6, 2018. Frida, a nine-year-old Labrador retriever, was a hero among rescue dogs in the September 2017 quake. Korea Times file photo

"In Mexico, rescue dogs are equipped with goggles and protective shoes while on a mission. Why do Korean rescue dogs have to work in disaster sites barefoot? This country is an animal abuser. Provide some medical treatment and enough rest and protective gear to the animal," an online user wrote on Twitter, Saturday, posting side by side pictures of injured Tobaek and a Mexican rescue dog named Frida, who was on a mission at an earthquake site in September 2017.

"Look at Tobaek's face, he looks so sad. We should provide him some protection for safety at disaster sites," another wrote in response.

However, the rescue headquarters' team in charge of training and handling denied the animal abuse allegations and confirmed that they do their utmost to ensure the safety of the rescue animals at all times, especially while on duty.

"We also have goggles, vests, shoes to protect rescue dogs' eyes, body and feet from dangerous disaster sites while on duty," the team's official told The Korea Times, Monday. "All protective gear is ready."

However, rescue dogs' research and rescue capabilities vary depending on whether they are wearing protective gear or not. "We choose to equip or not equip them with protective gear depending on the type of disaster site. Sometimes, it could be more dangerous to put the protective gear on rescue dogs, because they may become stuck in debris or feel uncomfortable when moving," he said.

According to the official, each rescue dog is teamed up with one professional handler from the for field missions. To maintain a partnership with the dogs, these handlers are rarely replaced. As such, they know what is best for the dogs to keep them safe and in optimal condition for search and rescue operations.

"We (handlers and personnel at the rescue team) care about the rescue dogs as much as we do about human rescue personnel. We would never put them in danger," the official said. "We love them more than anyone else."

As of Sunday, the KDRT saved two more lives, according to the foreign affairs ministry. Since their mission kicked off last Thursday, the KDRT rescued eight survivors and found 18 dead bodies.

The latest death toll from the deadly earthquake in Turkey and Syria stands at 33,181 as of Monday, local time.