New canine members with Okanagan search and rescue crews expected to save lives

They are the first of their kind members to join Okanagan search and rescue crews.

“First time ever for the Okanagan,” said Terry Downs, a member with Central Okanagan Search and Rescue (COSAR).

That first is a validated civilian search dog — two, to be exact.

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Last week, two dogs who belong to two Okanagan residents — who are also search-and-rescue volunteers — passed their validation standards test and are now considered active service dogs.

The canines will play an instrumental role in searches involving missing people in the backcountry.

“It’s very exciting,” Downs told Global News. “It’ll save time and resources.”

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“He can cover areas significantly faster, so his sense of smell, his sense of sight, just the movement that he does saves us resources,” Downs said of her two-year-old black Labrador retriever, Chase.

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“So if we’re out on a long search, say a lost child for instance, the probability of finding that child is significantly higher using a canine resource.”

Mike Arychuk is with the Oliver/Osoyoos Search and Rescue (OOSAR).

His two-year-old German Shepherd named kaya also passed her validation standards test and will also be assisting in searches when needed.

“They say that 20 to 30 human searchers is what this dog is equivalent to,” Arychuk said.

The dogs are trained to locate people in the backcountry using their sense of smell. Once they locate a person, they bark and stay put until their handler arrives.

“They can hit from 100, 200, 300 yards away,” Arychuk said.

Those are skills Arychuk and Downs say that can potentially save lives.

“Absolutely saving lives,” Downs said.”If he finds somebody quicker, then the probability of them being less injured or suffering from some sort of medical incident is a lot less.”

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Validated civilian search dogs are used elsewhere in the province, but it’s a first for the Okanagan because it takes a special breed of dog and hundreds of hours of training.

Also, the dog’s handler has to live in the area and also volunteer with search and rescue.

“It really takes somebody who’s willing to put the time and effort in, and actually have the dog that has the drive to be a good search dog,” Arychuk said.

“Over the last couple of years, both Terry and I, with travel to and from training, we probably put in a couple of thousand hours of our own personal time into developing these dogs.”

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While Kaya will based in Osoyoos and Chase in Kelowna, their services will be used all over the Okanagan and surrounding areas.

“When you consider all our mutual-aid areas, there’s a great demand for the search dogs,” Arychuk said.

“For Kaya, her main deployment area will be the entire valley out of Princeton and out to Grand Forks.”

With the dogs having been validated, they are waiting for their first deployment.

In the meantime, they’ll continue training and jump into action when duty calls.

“If we can bring somebody home and safely quicker and do a rescue,” said Arychuk, “it will be 110 per cent worth its while.”