WA's canine search and rescue heroes

By: Vanessa Pogorelic

As any dog owner will tell you, our four-legged mates are incredible companions. They can also be our lifesavers, and one group of local dog owners are proving just how life-affirming that bond can be.

In many ways Cliff is just a regular, friendly little Staffordshire terrier. He loves a run at the local dog park, he’s a bit obsessed with tennis balls and is always up for a cuddle.

What sets Cliff apart from his other mates in the park is that he’s also a highly trained search and rescue dog.

Cliff’s owner, Rachael Box, manages the Canine Unit within WA’s State Emergency Service (SES), part of the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES).

Rachael Box and her dog Cliff during training

The team is made up of volunteers and their dogs who have been trained to search for missing people.

Working with WA Police, these family pets and their owners have saved countless lives, tracking down children and adults who have been reported missing across the state.

The little heroes who drive this operation at ground level are quite a mixed bunch. The dogs range from kelpies and Labradors to Rachael’s staffy.

Mike Teraci, the DFES District Officer for the SES Canine Unit, says Cliff is one the unit’s stars.

“He’s adorable, but you’d never pick him as a search and rescue dog. He’s a real mummy’s boy and such an affectionate dog. But he’s probably one of the best dogs in the unit. The control Rachael has over Cliff is amazing.”

What makes Cliff’s success in the unit even more remarkable is that he only has one working nostril, although it has in no way impeded his ability to track scents.

“He had a cleft palate when he was born so I bottle fed him from birth,” Rachael says. “It’s why we have such a close bond. He pretty much does anything for me.”

Cliff was born with a cleft palate and just one working nostril

Searching the state

There are currently 22 dogs in the unit. Most are Perth-based, in addition to one trained dog based in Merredin, another in Busselton and an Albany-based dog currently in training.

The service has been operating since 2007 and the SES’s Leonie Briggs has worked with the Canine Unit for most of those 16 years. She’s currently the unit’s Senior Trainer and Assessor.

Leonie says many of the rescue missions involve tracking people who have gone missing on the fringes of the metropolitan area, although the team has been sent as far north as Mount Augustus and as far south as Bluff Knoll.

“Sometimes it’s people who’ve gone for a walk and become lost. It might be someone who’s gone off on a quad bike or pushbike and not come back. People who are despondent and just don’t want to be found. These are more urgent searches as we try to get to them before they come to any harm. The other side of it is people with dementia getting lost in suburban areas.”

Two types of tracking skills

Depending on the circumstances, the animals will be used for either scentspecific tracking or air scenting. For each of these search techniques they receive specific training.

When scent-tracking, the dogs will only track the scent of one individual.

“The dogs will be given a scent article from that person and taken to the point they went missing from,” says Leonie. “The dog will then ignore all other people’s scents.”

“I’ve tracked my dog through Kalamunda from the bush to the town centre just looking for that one specific scent, and they ignore all other human scents.”

Dogs can be given a scent item from the person they are searching for

When used for air-scenting, the dogs, their handlers and a navigator, will search an area in a grid pattern.

“They look for any human or articles of clothing or personal item that has human scent on it. It can be people who are both alive and also recently deceased.

“Area search dogs are used most, because once you’ve got a direction of travel, you can put all of your dogs out in that direction.”

Generally, a dog will specialise in one tracking technique, but WA’s Canine Unit has dogs who are trained to do both scent-specific as well as air tracking.

Cliff finds a volunteer hiding in the bushes during training

“We were taught by a very capable UK trainer, and he encouraged us to dual train. But not all dogs are capable of being dual trained and not all handlers have got the time - it’s very time consuming.

“At the moment we have four in the group who are dual trained, and another that will soon also be.”

The highs and lows of searching for missing people

Not all searches end with a good outcome and volunteers are asked to take this into consideration when applying to join.

“Right from the very first interview, we point out that you may find someone that’s badly injured or deceased. We do have a lot of mental health training though and volunteers are given very clear training on what to do in difficult situations,” Leonie says.

Team members are given a briefing before each search mission

“We also have a very comprehensive wellness program, with counselling available for as long as you need it and a peer support program with SES leaders. We’re well trained in what to look for in ourselves and in each other.”

A search that ends with a favourable outcome is the ultimate reward for the volunteers who give up so much of their own time to provide this important emergency service.

After 15 years with the unit, Leonie has been part of many memorable search and rescue missions. One that stands out was some years ago on a small hobby farm from which a three-year- old boy had gone missing.

Search and rescue dogs will sometimes cover an area in a grid pattern

“The mum put him down for his afternoon sleep, but he didn’t wake up and come out as he usually would. So she went in at about five o’clock and the window was wide open and the boy was gone.

Immediately everyone started searching around but couldn’t find him.

“Around 10:30pm the SES Canine Unit was called in and we were given a briefing by police before beginning the search.

“I set out with one other dog handler. We were asked to check the family’s property and the one next door and all around the dams – they had two dams on the property. I went to the farm next door. We had police officers with us because they were expecting to find a deceased child by that time.

“I said, ‘Look I’m just going to run the dog around the neighbour’s verandah first’. I heard my dog Jemma bark, then she came back to me, took me to a window and was barking at the window.

“We looked in and the little boy was in the house, asleep. We presume he’d crawled in through the doggy door.

“The fridge was open and there was a chair in front of it, so he’d obviously found himself something to eat. The TV was on and he’d found a rug, and there he was, sound asleep.

“It was an amazing outcome because we really were concerned.”

Being part of the team

Mark Smith is one of the Canine Unit volunteers. He found out about the unit when he spotted someone in uniform with their dog in a pet shop, and asked what they did.

Mark applied to join with his flat-coat retriever, Penny, and is now a very active member of the group. He and Penny became fully qualified in August 2022 and have already taken part in several search missions.

Mark and his dog Penny on the day they graduated from training

“Our unit can be deployed anywhere in the state. I’ve done a search in Albany and one in Collie recently. We had to leave at 3am on a Saturday.

“We have a four-wheel drive that we travel in, and we also have a canine trailer. The dogs travel with us in the four-wheel drive in a crate. The canine trailer is just for when they’re on site, so they have a safe place to be and can be kept cool with air conditioning.

“The longest search I’ve ever been on was about 14-15km of walking. That was a beach search.”

Mark says each team member must carry about 15kg of gear with them, so a reasonable level of fitness is essential.

The canine trailer is air conditioned and a safe place for dogs to rest during a rescue

“You have to carry water for your dog as well as spare water for any missing person, your two-way radio, a GPS, torches and universal tools.

“The dogs also have their own special coats with bells on them so we can hear where they are. And they have lights on them as well for night searches.

We’ve recently done some training with the dogs in different aircraft to get them used to it in case we need to be deployed by air.”

Led by DFES District Officer Mike Teraci, Mark along with three other Canine Unit members and their dogs took part in the aviation training in a DFES helicopter at Serpentine Airfield.

Aviation training prepares dogs for aircraft noise and their handlers for air rescue work

The training was to help familiarise both handlers and their dogs with safe work practices around aircraft and to acclimatise the dogs to aircraft noise. Being able to deploy the team via an aircraft will enable rescuers to reach those in regional and remote areas more quickly to conduct searches.

What does it take to make the cut?

Leonie Briggs says due to the busy training schedule, those who apply to volunteer are made aware of the commitment level required at the outset.

“When people enquire about joining, we say upfront how much time they’re going to have to put into this. You need to attend a minimum of 75 per cent of training. You have to be able to work with your dog during the week on your own time as well.”

Penny 'interviewing' a new applicant

Dogs must be under three years of age to begin training, which can take up to two years. They should also be people and dog-friendly, have a high play-drive and lots of energy.

Group training is done at several locations, including Gnangara, Whiteman Park and Kalamunda.

If you’re interested in applying to join the service with your dog, you can email the Canine Unit at sesdogswa@gmail.com or message them via facebook.com/ SESDogsWA.