Search and rescue dog nominated for Crufts Hero Dog Award

A search and rescue dog from Merseyside Fire and Rescue (MFRS) has been announced as a finalist in The Kennel Club Hero Dog Award for her work assisting in international search and rescues.

In her career, four-year-old Belgian Malinois, Vesper, has been deployed to numerous disasters, most recently the 2023 earthquakes in Türkiye and Morocco. Alongside her handler, Crew Manager, Niamh Darcy, she has been responsible for locating multiple live casualties and reuniting them with their families.

Vesper started out her life as a puppy in West Midlands Police’s breeding programme. Previously known as ‘Venom’, Vesper quickly decided she didn’t like the idea of being a police dog. Noticing her gentle nature, Breed Scheme Manager Dave Raymond realised she would be perfect in a different role.

“Vesper was extremely kind and very social. We wouldn’t call her a failed police dog, we would class her as a re-educated police dog. She’s gone on to do another role with the fire and rescue service where she is saving lives and helping people.”

When deployed to the earthquakes in Türkiye, Niamh and Vesper arrived around 36 hours after the earthquake initially hit. For over a week, Vesper and the team searched hundreds of buildings, located and rescued a number of survivors – reuniting people in their darkest hour.

“Vesper is a live scent dog. Once picking up a scent, she will give a signal, which is normally a bark, and then will sit in that position so we can identify exactly where to start digging.

“I can’t explain how important that is to families who have relatives trapped under rubble overseas, like in Türkiye last year. If we can bring one loved one to the surface, our job is worth doing and Vesper has done this on numerous occasions.”

Nick Searle, Deputy Chief Fire Officer at Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service.

Vesper is one of four finalists in the Kennel Club Hero Dog Awards. A public vote to decide a winner is now open and you can vote here: The Kennel Club Hero Dog Award at Crufts | Crufts 2024.

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