Lowland Search Dogs (Kent) are frequently called in by the police to help find missing people. ROBERT FISK took part in a training exercise to find out more about their work.
HIDING in bushes and behind trees is not my usual idea of a fun way to spend a Friday afternoon.
But on this occasion it was a necessity as I was playing the part of a misper (missing person) on a Lowland Search Dogs training exercise and I did not want to make it too easy for them.
Crouching down in the prickly holly so the animal looking for me could not instantly see where I was did not stop their search though as they are air scent dogs.
This means they seek the scent of any human carried in the air, following this scent to its source and once they start ‘working a scent’ they will follow it relentlessly until they find a person.
During the training exercise near Keston Ponds I was only ever missing for about five minutes at a time but when Lowland Search Dogs (Kent) are brought in by police in real life situations their searches can go on for hours.
They usually work at night but are available 24 hours per day, seven days a week throughout the year, to find vulnerable missing people.
Last year they were called out 56 times by the Met and Kent police forces including in October when missing dementia sufferer Maureen Fairbrass was found amongst brambles in an allotment in Bromley.
In September when they were tasked with tracking down a despondent woman in the Sidcup area and in June they helped find a missing depressed man in the Farningham area.
So far this year they have been called out three times including to help police find 17-year-old Harini Payagla in Hayes and 77-year-old diabetic Giuseppe Marsala who went missing in St Paul’s Cray.
And they have also just been given permission by the Met to carry out training exercises in Greenwich Park at night after the park closes.
This will give the dogs more experience in searching urban parkland so they can be called in to find missing people in Lewisham and Greenwich.
IT’S A SEARCH DOG’S LIFE
LSDK is an entirely volunteer run, not-for-profit organisation.
It was set up in September 2009 and is part of the national body, Lowland Search Dogs.
It can take many years to train a search dog and around 1.5 years for them to qualify.
Search dogs can be many breeds but they need to demonstrate an underlying desire to work for their handler (normally for a reward of play or food).
The team will always go out in pairs, one will be the dog handler and the other is a dog support- taking charge of the radio, navigation and first aid.
All dogs are owned by their handlers and in most cases, the family pet.
The dogs are all ‘passive’ and show no aggression and must also be well behaved around livestock.
BEING A DOG HANDLER
LSDK chairman Dave Ryan has been part of the charity for three and a half years and says it has taken over his life.
The 54-year-old said: “I’m obsessed.
“I think I now have a purpose in life because of doing this.
“Everything you do and every sacrifice you make it is for a reason and there is a goal at the end of it.
“It is worthwhile and something to be proud of.”
He added: “We want to raise awareness with the public and the police and we are always looking for more people to join us, whether with a dog or just as support.”
Go to lowlandsearchdogskent.co.uk for more information about the group.
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