Difficulty: Summiteer (Level 3)
Sisu tackles her missions amid the rubble left by Venezuela’s two earthquakes with the same determination and energy she uses to chase her favourite toy.
The restless brown Labrador retriever ventures into the ruins of buildings that collapsed during the earthquakes on June 24. She searches for survivors using nothing but her strong sense of smell.
Sisu is a member of a US rescue team called Florida Task Force 2. The team’s work has proven crucial in finding people alive in a race against time and saving them from the rubble.
The animals are the first to act when teams arrive at a location where survivors are believed to be buried. When a dog alerts to something, rescuers send a second animal to confirm the finding, said Sylvia Arango, a canine handler since 1998 who manages Sisu.
From there, radar or cameras refine the coordinates of the victims’ locations.
