DAWSON COUNTY, Ga. — Disaster dogs in north Georgia are being trained to go where humans cannot.
Building collapses, tornadoes, and missing person’s cases are just a few situations Georgia Search and Rescue dogs have helped victims.
Many dogs enter the program as puppies. Within one year, they learn enough training to be a part of the search and rescue unit.
Almost all GSAR dogs are trained at a Dawsonville site. Their job is to recover bodies, or find someone injured or buried.
“If you are under the rubble and you have crush injuries, the clock is ticking and you know we have to get you out. And that’s what these dogs do,” said Dave Adkins, a retired member of DeKalb Fire Department.
It wasn’t until the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that a need for disaster search dog teams presented itself.
“So they are working in environments where you’ve got a collapsed building or tornado or something like that,” said Tim Satterfield, with Dawson County Emergency Services. “The environment is a lot different from when they are in the woods.”
The dogs also help improve safety and narrow search areas for EMS and firefighters.
“There is no sense in taking that whole 10,000 square foot building apart and digging. We’re trying to get it down to hundreds of feet instead of thousands of feet,” said Satterfield.