News Updates
Thank you to the people of Limerick!
We had a great collection day in Limerick City and everyone loved meeting the dogs! Everyone was so generous, even down to a little girl of about 8 or 9 who put some of her well earned birthday money in our bucket! ๐ฅฐ
The money raised will help us respond to missing person searches across Ireland and train our brilliant search dogs! ๐๐ป
Happy Halloween! ๐
Delighted to meet and support such a wonderful charity at the Jetland centre today! Thank you so much for the fantastic voluntary service you provide ๐ ๐๐ฆบ
Loved meeting Flame and Marley this morning. Beautiful dogs. Thank you for all you do โค๏ธ
What a wonderful charity to support.
Amazing ๐
We are running a bucket collection day tomorrow (Saturday) in two locations in Limerick City:
Jetland shopping centre๐ (11-4) and Thomond Park Stadium๐ (2.45-5)
Come and meet our search dogs๐, and help support our national charity๐๐ป! You can also donate using the button below โคต๏ธ
Thank you! ๐
Limerick.ie Limerick Now Limerick News
And Cody will be in Thomond too!
Sly will be in Thomond Park ๐
Croía will be in Thomond also!
Jessie will be in Jetland too!
Flame will be in Jetland!
Bailey will be in Jetland!
Come and meet Trakr in Thomond Park!
*Missing Person Found - a community effort!*
We can thankfully report that the missing person in Co. Tipperary has been found safe and well.
This afternoon, some of the missing personโs belongings were found by a farmer in his fields. The farmer reported this to the Gardaรญ who tasked Killaloe Coast Guard Unit to investigate. SARDA Ireland air-scenting dog team Jarlath and Syd also made their way to the field and began searching with Rescue 117 also searching the area from the air.
Would you believe that SARDA dog Syd and Rescue 117 almost found the person at the same time? The heli picked up on the missing person on their camera at the same time as search dog Syd picked up on the missing personโs scent in the air using his super nose. The heli descended to confirm the find, and Syd arrived at the missing person.
We are absolutely delighted that the missing person was found safe and well after spending the night outside.
It really is a community effort when searches happen. Between the Gardaรญ, search teams, landowners, neighbours, family, friends, social media and more, everyone has a role to play.
We normally try to name all the agencies involved but there were so many, that we donโt want to leave anyone out.
So we will just say well done to everyone involved!
And well done to search dog Syd and his super nose!
Well done guys.
Super job! Well done to all involved ๐
Just a little perspective on the find, Rescue 117 spotted the missing person in our camera systems, but, what actually drew our attention to him, well it was the behaviour of the cows in the field, we noticed that a group of 6 cattle were all standing around the casualty in a semi circle looking at him, he was under vegetation, and when we looked closer with the zoomed in camera we spotted him. There you have it. Good learning for search planners is to observe animal behaviour. Cheers.
Great outcome
Well done Syd and your handler of course! Hard work and training for a great outcome !
Well done everyone, great work ๐, and to all the animals that helped xx
It's Rescue 117 I was crewing it.
Well done Syd and to everyone involved ๐
Congratulations ๐๐one and all for all your good work and thank God whoever was missing has been found.
Well done Syd and jarlath, Great outcome for all.
Well done to all the services involved
Well done Syd ๐ถand all involved ๐
Great work everybody! A great result.
Well done Jarlath, Syd and Rescue 117!
Well done everyone involved ๐
Great news! Best possible outcome.
Superb work, so glad the person was safe ๐๐
Excellent result, well done all ๐
Well done to everyone ๐
Great outcome well done
Well done everyone
Great work Jarlath.
Well done to you all
Well done all
Well done guys b
Air scenting dog team Jarlath and Syd are responding to a missing person search outside Nenagh Town, Co. Tipperary.
Wishing all a happy outcome ๐ค
Good luck and stay safe.
Angels blessing on you all to keep you safe๐
Best of luck. Come home safe. & ๐คfor a find.
Stay safe and wishing you all luck with the search.
Hope all goes well! Stay safe and take care โค๏ธ
Stay safe and good luck with your search
Best of luck Ja, hope your search is successful
Well done Syd ๐
Good Luck ๐ค
Found safe๐๐๐ป
Please God you find him soon
What a weekend! We are all back home after a brilliant National Training Weekend in and around Carrauntoohil in Co. Kerry!
Our air-scenting and trailing dogs were put through their paces in various areas, and our handlers and dogs have benefitted greatly from the experience.
A very big thank you to Cronin's Yard and other landowners around the area for letting us use their land. Thank you also to The Climbers Inn for hosting us for the weekend, itโs a fab location and the food was brilliant!
We also had a special visitor, Kathy, who brought with her lots of great advice and experience from her search and rescue team in Washington State, Kitsap County Search Dogs
Thank you to our amazing bodies who hid for all our air scenting dogs, and laid trails for our trailing dogs. They truly are the coolest bunch of people!
It was great to meet lots of new people out walking on the trails, everyone was very interested to find out more about our wonderful dogs!
NOTE: Dogs are not permitted on the lands and tracks around Carrauntoohil. We received permission from the landowner to train on these lands and all our dogs working this weekend have been externally stock tested to ensure that they do not interfere with sheep etc.
Great photos!
Such an amazing weekend.......beautiful scenery, fantastic handlers, awesome dogs, great singing and storytelling. Thanks so much for welcoming me to hang out with you this weekend at the last minute. I'm almost thinking I should be writing to AerLingus and thanking them for that late arriving flight.
These are amazing animals, and ye in SARDA are amazing people, involved in many hours of, sometimes tough outdoor training. I've many happy memories of acting as a 'body' for various KMRT search dogs in the past. I hope your K9 partners stay happy, healthy and injury free.
What a wonderful group of volunteers and especially those beautiful dogs ye work so hard thank you
Love the pictures it must have been a wonderful weekend.
Amazing fotos, thanks for sharing ๐
Were you at the Voluntary Emergency Services, Ireland South Open Day in the MTU campus in Cork last weekend? You may have spotted some of our handlers and their four legged companions! They had a great day meeting everyone!
Something to read over your morning coffee โ๏ธ๐Tyndall is a place of many hidden talents. Today, we are showcasing Louise Burgyone, EU Programmes Manager from our EU Programmes Office.
Louise's hidden talent relates to voluntary roles working with dogs and celebrating her beautiful bond with her German Shepherd, Lyla.
Full story: bit.ly/3rKR452
Search and Rescue Dog Association (Ireland) South Eastern Mountain Rescue Association Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland
Great piece Louise! Lovely testament to Lyla too๐ฅฐ
Well done Louise ๐
Beautiful photo Louise, what a hero dear Lyla. X
Beautiful dog๐ฅฐ
Well done Louise. You and all the SARDA team (especially the four legged team members) do amazing work.
Lovely photo of you both Louise
Well done Louise!
Awesome! Go Lou!
Fabulous article Louise, brilliant ๐ค๐ค
Go Louise
Excellent Louise, lovely photo too.
Well done Louise
Beautifully written
Lovely article Louise ๐
Aw Louise Burgoyne Love this โค๏ธ
A great interview, Louise Burgoyne. Well done!
Charlie Mitchell
Well done Louise, Lyla and Mango, ๐
Well Done. God Bless you
SARDA Ireland is part of the National Search and Rescue Dog Association (NSARDA) organisation. NSARDA is made up of 9 different SARDA teams across England, Scotland, Wales the Isle of Man and Ireland. The main role of NSARDA is to ensure a high standard of training and assessment for both dogs and handlers.
SARDA Ireland have 3 main types of roles:
๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ
Search Dogs need highly dedicated, professional Dog Handlers. It takes a great deal of dedication and persistence with training to get a dog up to assessment standard.
Before becoming a trainee dog handler all handlers (regardless of previous experience) will have been volunteering as a โbodyโ for at least 4-6 months before beginning to train their dog. This is necessary to gain a better understanding of the training and to get to know the rest of the team. It usually takes a minimum of 2 years of regular and high-quality training with your dog in accordance with NSARDA standards to become a dog handler.
These requirements may seem restrictive, especially to those with previous dog training experience, but peoples lives depend on the provision of a demonstrably high quality search dog service, and it is our duty as a frontline service to ensure that all our dog teams can provide this level of service during missing person searches.
๐๐ข๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฅ๐ง / ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ง๐ข๐ฅ
Search Dog Teams need highly dedicated, professional Dog Supports/Navigators. It takes a great deal of dedication and time to fulfil this role.
The Dog Support / Navigator will learn the same skills as the Dog Handler, particularly in terms of Navigation, Radio, First Aid, etc., and dealing with members of the family / public but obviously not the training and handling of the dog.
Before becoming a trainee all Trainee Dog Supports / Navigators will have been volunteering as a โbodyโ for at least 4-6 months before commencing training. This is necessary to gain a better understanding of the training and to get to know the rest of the team.
๐๐ข๐๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ฆ
There are many opportunities to assist NSARDA Associations as a โDogs Bodyโ.
It is impossible to train a search dog if they have no one to search for! Having a body is vital!! All NSARDA Associations are very lucky to have a great team of people we call Bodies or Dogs Bodies. They turn up at every training session to lie in fields, behind trees, in ditches, in the heather or between boulders until the dogs find them.
We always need more Dogs Bodies therefore we need you to volunteer your time.
For more info, please visit www.sardaireland.com
Did you know that many of our SARDA Ireland team members are also part of other MRI teams including Galway Mountain Rescue Team, Glen of Imaal Mountain Rescue and South Eastern Mountain Rescue Association?
These teams have cool fundraising events coming up across Ireland, so if you are interested in supporting them, please see the links below (in chronological order)!
๐๐๐ฅ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ - ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐๐ฒ - ๐๐ญ๐ก ๐๐๐ญ๐จ๐๐๐ซ ๐๐๐๐:
Galway Mountain Rescue Team - Howl at the Moon - A quiet 9km or an 17km night walk along the forest tracks and walking paths through the Galway Wind Park๐ฒ
www.eventbrite.ie/e/howl-at-the-moon-2022-tickets-400692852107?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
๐๐ข๐๐ค๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ - ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ ๐๐๐๐ - ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ ๐๐๐๐
Glen of Imaal Mountain Rescue - Moonlight Challenge - A 25.5km route up and over the Wicklow Mountains under moonlight๐ www.wmr.ie/moonlight-challenge/
๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ง๐ฆ๐๐ฅ - ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ ๐๐๐๐
South Eastern Mountain Rescue Team - Long Way Round - A 15km fundraising night walk/run over minor roads, forest track and open mountainside๐
www.eventbrite.ie/e/long-way-round-2022-registration-423367763377?fbclid=IwAR1EmV-3xGlVMSWok5cJFf...
Why not share these events with your friends on Facebook to show your support!
๐คฉ๐พAlso, we are planning a new SARDA Ireland bucket collection day towards the end of this month, we will announce the details shortly, but it is a great opportunity to meet our search dogs!๐พ๐คฉ
Did you know that SARDA Ireland is a mountain rescue team under Mountain Rescue Ireland? MRI is an organisation made up of 11 mountain rescue teams, and approx. 400 trained volunteers.
As you can see in the image below taken from www.mountainrescue.ie/teams/ each of the mountainous regions of the island have a dedicated emergency response team, and SARDA is the MRI search dog unit.
Our MRI affiliation underpins a lot of what we do, and how we do it: aspects like insurances, policies and training standards make sure that we are the operating and searching at the top of our game. We are also affiliated with National Search and Rescue Dog Association (NSARDA), but we can talk about that in the next post!
As it says on the MRI website: "Irrespective of whatever role a person may end up fulfilling, commitment is a vital aspect of the job. Mountain Rescue is a true frontline emergency service, so although teams are fully staffed by volunteers, all members would need to show a professional approach to any role or task they are assigned.... On a cold wet night you may regret the day you joined M.R. but there are many benefits. There is also the satisfaction of helping those in trouble on the hills and mountains of Ireland."
We couldn't agree more!
Member of Sarda Wales
Just come back from Ireland, didn’t realise what a rugged and sparsely populated areas were there. A real eye opener. Good luck to you all
**September Callouts and Training**
๐ฎ๐ชAs Irelandโs largest and longest-standing search dog team, SARDA Ireland are well used to travelling across Ireland to search for missing people.
๐Since our last dog find at the start of the month, where Trakr found a missing person in Co. Cork, we have been tasked to searches in Dublin, Mayo, Donegal and Limerick.
๐๐ปIt is not just the time, dedication and knowledge of our members that enable our dog teams to do this job, it is the donations we receive from the public. We honestly couldnโt do this without you, so thank you to everyone who has donated over the last number of years.
โฐ๐ธ We also held our September National Training Weekend in Co. Mayo for the first time ever! A big thank you to Killary Adventure Centre for hosting us and the dogs for the weekend, and to the local farmers who graciously gave us land that we could use for training. It was also a pleasure to welcome some members of Mayo Mountain Rescue to our training session! Have a look at the photos of our dogs, handlers and dogs bodies in action!
Lovely pics, well done all
I would to do this as i live in north cork
You're all heroes, fair play to you all, stay safe
Great pics!
For anyone that would like to take some time to learn more about Caitrรญona and her fearless approach to helping those in her community and beyond, have a listen to a special tribute documentary podcast by Clare FM where our long term member Pauliina spoke about Caitrรญonaโs involvement in our charity.
6 years ago we lost a true SARDA team member and dear friend.
Go Maridis BeoToday we remember Caitriona Lucas who six years ago today lost her life while on Coast Guard duty.
Our thoughts are with her family, Coast Guard colleagues and friends.
Never forgotten
Go Maridis Beo
Amen RIP
Rip Caitriona
Rip
**SARDA CALLOUT AND DOG FIND**
SARDA Ireland weโre tasked by An Garda Sรญochรกna to a missing person search in West Cork this afternoon. The person had been missing since Tuesday, but there had been reported sightings yesterday. Two of our qualified air-scenting dog teams from the South responded to the callout.
During the search of an area, search dog Trakr indicated on an area of very overgrown bush were the missing person was found safe and well and assessed by handler Jean.
This is Jean and Trakrโs first find since qualifying before the summer. It goes to show how all those years of hard work and training can pay off very quickly when searching under real-life conditions.
Well done Jean and Trakr!
Other agencies involved:
Cork West Civil Defence
Thanks a million Tom. See you soon
Thanks Catherine. Delighted
Well done Jean and Trakr - so proud to have played a part in this amazing partnership โค๏ธ
Fantastic Jean. You have worked so hard to make the SARDA grade and now to have all this work pay off. Must be great feeling to get a result like that. Well done. ๐ช๐ป
Great stuff well done guy’s ๐๐
Well fair play Mrs Ryan and your companion Trakr, the hard paid off big time.
Well done Trakr and Jean, great assets to have
That's just brilliant Jean Ryan!! Well done to you and Trakr๐๐๐
Super work for a great result ๐
A life saved, well done folks….๐๐ผ
Fantastic outcome. Congrats Jean & Trakr!!! ๐๐ฅ
Outstanding work, well done to jean and trakr
Well done Jean. All the training with Trakr now showing what a great team you are. Congratulations to you both and best wishes to the casualty.
Brilliant job. Well done team.
Brilliant work. Well done Jean and Trakr, and the extended SARDA and Civil Defense Teams! Great outcome.
Well done Trakr & Jean!
Nicely done Jean & Trakr! Congrats!
Well done!! Great job ๐
Fantastic Jean and Trakr, a great team together and well done again and great outcomeโค๏ธ๐
Well done great work keep it up ๐โค๏ธ fm limerick city STAY SAFE โค๏ธ
Very well done to all involved but obviously especially well done team Trakr
A life saved, well done
Great team.. great find..๐
Great team work Jean and trakr.๐คฉ๐๐
Well done folks.
**SARDA CALLOUT**
SARDA Ireland weโre tasked by An Garda Sรญochรกna to a missing person search in Co. Galway this week. Two of our qualified air-scenting dog teams from the West responded to the callout and searched various areas of interest. Yesterday, just after the dog teams had stood down for the night, the missing person was sadly recovered. We wish to extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of the deceased.
Other agencies involved:
Galway Civil Defence
Loughrea Civil Defence
Ballinasloe Civil Defence
Oranmore Civil Defence
Mayo Civil Defence
Ar dheis Dรฉ go raibh a anam.
How sad. Rest in Peace.๐๐ฏ๐ Well done SARDA
Well done to all involved, sad outcome, RIP
Well done Sarda ๐พ๐ Condolences to the family ๐๐
Well done. Sympathies to the family
If you were at the #NationalServicesDay in Castlebar today, you might have spotted qualified search dog team Audrey and Bailey! They are based in Mayo and they are one of our dog teams that qualified this year.
Bailey had a great day and is no doubt dreaming of all the lovely people she met today!
Was great to meet ye today ๐๐ป๐๐ป
Itโs National Services Day!
Our dogs are enjoying some training in various locations across the country today!
Great job ๐ #NationalServicesDay
๐พ๐พ๐พ
This content isn't available at the moment
When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people or changed who can see it, or it's been deleted.
Itโs a sad day for SARDA Ireland with the passing of recently retired search dog Lyla.
Lyla was an excellent search dog, and along with her handler Louise Burgoyne, they made one of the best search dog teams SARDA Ireland has ever seen.
Lyla first qualified with SARDA Ireland in 2017 and only retired from searching last month at the age of 12. Lyla and Louise spent hundreds of hours searching for missing persons across Ireland, working at the top of their game. Lyla made numerous finds over her career, helping return missing people to their families, for which we are sure they are forever grateful.
From SARDA Irelandโs Training Officer, Gerry Tobin: โI wish to pay tribute to Lyla and Louise, such a legendary search dog team. We honour Lyla for contributing so much to SARDA searches over the years. Few people get to be as lucky as Louise and experience a dog of such ability.โ
Our thoughts are with you, Louise, your lives were so interwoven. Take care, we are all here for you.
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐จ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐บ,
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต ๐ข๐ญ๐ธ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด.
๐๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ
๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ด ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ.
โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ดโ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ
Rest easy, Lyla. ๐
So very sorry to hear this news, I had the privilege of meeting Lyla and watching her work, and Lou is a special friend. Stand down Lyla, rest easy โค๏ธ๐พ๐พ Tim, Chairman SARDA Wales
Sorry to hear the sad news. We seen Lyla working on a search, she was fantastic. Run free over the rainbow bridge Lyla. โค๏ธ๐
We are so sorry to hear of the loss of Search Dog Lyla and we send our deepest condolences to her handler Louise, her family and to Search and Rescue Dog Association (Ireland) ๐๐๐ฆบ๐
I was sad to hear the news today that SARDA is losing a great team member. I thought of the many memories I have of Lyla - bounding around Lough Mohra on a Sunday morning, making it look easy, or being released off the lead at The Vee like something out of Shelbourne Park, or training in Galway when Lou rightly trusted Lylas nose more that my Nav skills… All fond memories of a great dog/handler bomd. Until I met Lyla , I never knew that tennis balls were a consumable item… It is sad for the search dog community to lose the working (Hi Viz) Lyla, but mostly, my thoughts are with Lou today who has lost her dear friend.
So sad to hear this news. I spent many a happy hour bodying for Louise and Lyla, from when they first joined SARDA together, to qualifying and attending many callouts. ๐พ๐พ๐๐
Very sad news, Lyla was a life saving dog and will be missed, I had Louise and lyla involved in searches I was running and they were excellent and professional…..
Awww Lou, I’m so sorry to hear this news. Lyla was such a kind canine soul. She worked so hard because she loved you so much. Huge loss for you and the team. Thinking of you and Lyla bounding through the fields together.
So sorry for your loss. Lyla was an amazing dog. Thinking of you xx
So sad to hear this sad news. Such a beautiful dog & companion. Deepest condolences to Louise and the team she was part of. ๐
So very sad to hear this news, my thoughts are with you Louise I know your loss and my heart goes out to you. The memories and the adventures you had together will last forever, you were very lucky to have each other. Take care of yourself xx
Such sad news! Terrible loss! Thoughts are with you Louise and all the SARDA crew! X
So sorry for your loss.Rest easy Lyla ๐พ๐ Thanks for all the great work to you and Louise
So sad that Louise lost her friend. Thanks to them both for all the great work they did together
I'm sorry to read this Louise, what a noble and lovely friend to have lost. Well done for the great work you both did. ๐
What a great life she had with Louise, a great team who helped us on a number of searches in wicklow over the years.
Louise, I’m so sorry to hear that Lyla has gained her wings, so devastating for you. What a wonderful life you gave her & such incredible work you & she did together. Thinking of you xx Fly high lovely Delilah๐พ
So sorry to hear of Lyla's passing, condolences to Louise and all at SARDA. Thank you for your service Lyla.
Sleep peacefully beautiful Lyla. Thank you for your amazing service. So sorry for your loss Louise.
So ,so sorry to hear. The bond you build is always special after spending so much time together in “ challenging” situations. What a life she lived though !!!.
So sorry beautiful search dog appreciate your awesome service. Thoughts are with you and with SARDA Ireland North
I’m so sorry to hear of Lyla’s passing - such a beautiful dog and who did so much good work, with you by her side Louise. I’m glad I got to meet her. Thinking of you Louise xo
Oh no. I'm so so sorry Louise . Lyla was the center of your universe, she was your partner in crime and a valuable asset in Sarda. My heart breaks to hear such sad news. ๐ ๐๐
I'm very sorry to hear about Lyla passing. She was a lovely, playful and professional search dog. She will be deeply missed. My sincere condolences to you Louise Burgoyne.
Sorry to hear about Lyla. Condolences to Louise and Lyla’s ex SARDA colleagues & Family.
Sorry for your loss. I was lucky enough to have seen Layla training one day. Amazing pup.
SEMRA responded to a callout to two lost walkers in the Blackstairs Mountains. The walkers reached the summit and started descending in what they felt was the wrong direction after thick cloud and rain limited visibility. Ground conditions were reported to be marshy underfoot. The walker's car was located by SEMRA members at Scollagh Gap. An Garda Sรญochรกna also tasked Search and Rescue Dog Association (Ireland) and Kilkenny Civil Defence to assist.The walkers were eventually located by SEMRA at 18:58 (circa 2 hrs after the initial callout) and were escorted back to the trailhead with SARDA member Mick Grant and search dog Ziggy. The walkers were returned safely to their car and all team members were off the hill by 20:03.
Photo credit: Jerzy Gil
The team had an excellent training weekend in Co. Tipperary last week! We had all sorts of weather but our dogs and handlers worked hard to find our lovely Dogs Bodies that were hidden around The Vee!
Have a look at some of the cool photos taken throughout the weekend! ๐ธ๐ถ๐พ
The Vee...stunning. Marvellous work with dogs. How does one get in contact
Saw ye last weekend at Bay lough and was well impressedโบ๏ธ๐
We had a super bank holiday weekend training in Galway! Our trailing trainers from Search and Rescue Dog Association SARDA Wales were visiting, and thanks to access agreements with NUI Galway and Coillte we trained in the NUIG North Campus and Galway Wind Park!
We made great leaps in our training, including two of our trainee handlers moving on to more difficult trailing - one of our trailing dogs even had a successful find on a 3.5km trail that was over 2 hours old! ๐พ
We couldnโt have done any of this training without our wonderful dogs bodies who came from Galway Mountain Rescue Team, Galway Walking Club and even the Irish Air Corps (thank you for the awesome photos David O'Dowd!) We thank all our bodies very much for laying trails and hiding for hours!
Weโre all back training again next weekend in Co. Tipperary so stay tuned for more photos!
Well done everyone
Beautiful Merle’s! I’m looking for one to train next year. Can anybody recommend someone who Breeds Blue or Red Merle’s in Ireland? Thanks in advance ๐๐ป
Come visit South Eastern Mountain Rescue Association and Search and Rescue Dog Association (Ireland) members at the Garda Centenary Year Open Day at Waterford Garda Station on Bank Holiday Monday the 6th June from 1pm to 4pm. With An Garda Sรญochรกna, Little Blue Heroes, Irish Coast Guard, Waterford City Fire Service, Waterford City River Rescue CRBI, Waterford Marine Search and Rescue, National Ambulance Service (NAS) and Waterford City Civil Defence.
Garda Sรญochรกna Waterford/Kilkenny/Carlow
Many of our team members are also part of other mountain rescue team across the country!
Our Team Leader, Gerry Tobin, who is also Chairman of South Eastern Mountain Rescue Association, was in attendance at a recent event at Rescue 117โs base in Waterford. ๐
happy 20th RESCUE 117 HERES TO MANY MORE BIRTHDAYS AND RESCUES
Another chance to meet SARDA dogs and lots more!Come visit South Eastern Mountain Rescue Association and Search and Rescue Dog Association (Ireland) members at the Garda Centenary Year Open Day at Waterford Garda Station on Bank Holiday Monday the 6th June from 1pm to 4pm. With An Garda Sรญochรกna, Little Blue Heroes, Irish Coast Guard, Waterford City Fire Service, Waterford City River Rescue CRBI, Waterford Marine Search and Rescue, National Ambulance Service (NAS) and Waterford City Civil Defence.
Garda Sรญochรกna Waterford/Kilkenny/Carlow
SARDA Ireland members in Galway had the pleasure of hosting Samantha from the Animal Friendly podcast. We talked about air scenting and trailing dogs, how they are trained, and how they work in real life searches.
Samantha got first hand experience of bodying or hiding for our dogs and got to see how much our dogs enjoy the game of searching!
Make sure to keep an eye out for the episode on www.animalfriendly.earth/
Fantastic! Well done ๐
That episode is up now, hope ye enjoy it ๐
Loved my years of bodying before becoming a dog handler. Great to get the updates from the old country.
Really interesting morning, and great craic too! Ye are all lovely - I'd highly recommend being a dogsbody! ๐๐ฆบ
If youโre out and about in Carrick on Shannon, come visit the Gardaรญ open day where SARDA Ireland search dog Bailey and handler Audrey are in attendance
Hi ๐ Bailey ๐ ๐พ
๐ฃ Check out our latest newly qualified search adog teams!
Over the last few days, SARDA Ireland held an assessment weekend in Wicklow!
๐ Our newest air-scenting teams are Sean and his dog Ben and Jean and her dog Trakr! ๐
All of the dog teams were put through their paces in difficult search areas and a variety of weather conditions. We had 5 external assessors visiting from various UK Mountain Rescue and National Search and Rescue Dog Association (NSARDA) teams.
Our search dog teams are highly specialised. They are capable of understanding how terrain and environmental conditions can affect the movement of human scent in the air, and they are capable of reading the smallest changes in the behaviour of their dog when they are searching for missing people. These skills make search dog teams an invaluable asset in any missing person search. Their ability to use human scent to detect missing persons cannot be replicated by any other means, - they are effective both night and day, across open land and through dense gorse or forrestry, and in a variety of weather conditions!
For example, during their assessments, our search dog teams found 3 people who were well hidden in over 60 acres of mountainside, all within 2 hours!
SARDA Ireland currently have 10 qualified air-scenting search dog teams on the callout list; this is easily the largest number of qualified handlers we have ever had on the callout list at one time since our beginning in 1987!
These teams are scattered across Ireland and are ready to respond to missing person calls 24/7 365.
And thatโs not all, we have another group preparing for assessments in the Autumn, so it wonโt be long until we have more good news to share!
Thank you to everyone who took part in our assessment weekend, especially to the external and internal assessors, and our wonderful dogs bodies who spent the day playing hide and seek on the hill!
Onwards and upwards! ๐ช๐ป
Proud moment to see Jean and Sean qualify at the weekend. It’s a long hard road of relentless training to achieve this high standard. I look forward to the two others who’s qualifications are on the horizon. Good luck with your job of bringing missing people home to their families.
Well done Jean Ryan and the very best of luck
Well done everyone...great achievement
Congratulations Jean Ryan Jean, and Trakr too of course! I can only imagine how much time and effort was involved. Amazing what you can all do๐๐๐
All the hard work paid off, well done Jean and Séan ๐
Woo Hoo Jean!! Nicely done!
Congratulations!! ๐๐พ
Well done to all the volunteers giving their time to train the dogs to help others in their time of need.
Just wonderful ๐. Congratulations to all humans and canines โบ. Such amazing partnerships. Thank you. ๐
Brilliant!! Well done all ๐
Truly a remarkable gift from God. God Bless them and of course their wonderful and special handlers. Mega Congratulations ๐ ๐
Congratulations to all.
Omg brilliant news congratulations to them both
Well done to everyone. ๐๐ถ๐
Well done lads an girls๐๐
Jean Ryan, I am delighted for you!! Well done to you & Trakr ๐๐
Congratulations to the new recruits and their handlers ๐๐
Such an important service, well done, having been rescued myself (UK) after a fall from a horse I know how invaluable you are
Congratulations everyone ๐๐ป
Hi, how does one get in touch to see if their dog is suitable for training
Fantastic achievement to both handlers and dogs ๐ well done to you all ๐๐๐
Well done
Jenny Holland!!
Fair play done to the volunteers giving their time to train the dogs to help others in their time of need. Keep up the great work .
Well done and congratulations to all๐พ๐
Another day, another callout!
Thankfully the missing person was found safe and well shortly after the callout was initiated!
Happy Easter everyone! ๐ฅ
**SARDA CALLOUT**
SARDA Ireland weโre tasked by An Garda Sรญochรกna to a missing person search in Co. Tipperary in the last 30 minutes. Thankfully, as our dog teams were preparing to leave their homes and work, the missing person was located and SARDA Ireland were stood down.
SARDA Ireland would like to extend their deepest sympathies to the family of Stephen Cunningham, who was sadly recovered after an extensive 5 month search in Co. Galway. Rest in Peace.
Condolences to his family and friends and well done to all involved in the search to bring him home to his family. May he rest in peace..
Well done everyone involved ๐๐๐๐ family can have him home Now may he rest in peace ๐๐ condolences to all the family ๐๐
So very sad. Condolences to his family and friends.
Thinking of Stephen's family and his pals.
Condolences to family, Rest In peace.
So sad, RIP
So sad . Rip
5 months gone, Bless all around Stephen.
Rip
๐๐ป
Some good advice from Donegal Mountain Rescue Team for anyone heading on the hills today.
Take it easy, donโt push yourself too hard, and enjoy the day! ๐Tomorrow, 2nd April, is the day the country takes to the hills in support of Climb with Charlie.
Mountaineering Ireland have detailed safety advice on their website so as to allow everyone to have a safe and positive experience tomorrow. Please visit their website and read their advice.
Here at DMRT, we ask that anyone heading for the hills tomorrow to please do so safely and as prepared as possible. Make sure you understand and are familiar with the route you are taking and that it is the appropriate hike/walk to match your level of fitness.
The weather has been very changeable this week, from sunny spells to snow showers, so make sure to check the weather forecast before setting out.
If you are crossing farmland, please be aware that Spring is an active time of year within the farm community. Please be mindful of animals and perhaps leave your dogs at home unless on a dog friendly path, in which case we would recommend keeping them secured on a lead.
Covid-19 is also still very much among us. Please keep this in mind and be mindful of others while out in our beautiful countryside.
Have a wonderful day tomorrow and stay safe.
๐๐ GOOD NEWS!!! ๐๐
SARDA Ireland held the first 2022 assessment for air-scenting dogs this weekend in Wicklow and we are pleased to announce that all 4 dogs passed their assessments!!
Congratulations to novice search dog teams Audrey and Bailey for passing their first novice search dog assessment! ๐ฅณ Audrey is based in Co. Mayo and is now one of two SARDA Ireland qualified dog teams in the west!
Congratulations to novice search dog team Winnie and Flame for passing their first novice search dog assessment! ๐ฅณ Winnie is also part of South Eastern Mountain Rescue Association, where her and Flame will contribute to the already strong group of search dog handlers in the team.
Congratulations to Sean and Cody who passed their novice assessment also; Sean has been on the callout list since 2021 following internal assessments during Covid (they had a dog find last year too!). Sean is also a part of SEMRA and he has responded to many callouts with SEMRA.
Congratulations to Martina and Ella for passing their full grade dog assessment! Martina and Ella have been on the callout list since 2020. Martina is part of Glen of Imaal Mountain Rescue where she has already responded to multiple callouts with Ella!
There are almost too many people to thankโฆ
Thanks to the dog teams who qualified for their many years of hard work and dedication, it is not easy to train and qualify a search dog and itโs not for everyone, but these 4 teams have put the hard work in!
Thank you to the families of the sesrch dog teams, and all the families of all SARDA dog handlers. The support that you provide enables us to have qualified search dogs around the country, ready to help find missing people at a moments notice!
Thank you to our amazing external assessors that travelled over from National Search and Rescue Dog Association (NSARDA), Search and Rescue Dogs Association (SARDA Wales), Mountain Rescue Search Dogs England, Calder Valley Search & Rescue Team, and Woodhead Mountain Rescue Team. Our external assessors ensure that the dog teams are working to the required standards set out by NSARDA and that each dog team is capable of responding to missing person searches.
Thank you to our amazing internal assessors from SARDA Ireland. These people have dedicated years of hard work to the organisation and they are the reason we are here today!
Thank you to our amazing Dogs Bodies who hid out on the hill for hours each day while each search dog team worked the area. They are truly the heart of the organisation, without them there would be nobody to find!
Thank you to our brilliant Training Officer Gerry Tobin for all of his hard work and effort. As Training Officer, Gerryโs role is to make sure that all our qualified and trainee handlers are supported in their training and ensure that we continue to adhere to NSARDA standards.
Thank you to our wonderful secretary Martina for all her hard work in organising the assessment weekend and our national trainings. Thank you to the committee for their support throughout the assessment weekend. Thank you to the entire SARDA Ireland team for working together to create such a fantastic group of people! Since our first year in 1987 we have grown from strength to strength and weโre not stopping here!
And guess what, we have another assessment weekend coming up next month! ๐
Huge Congrats to all !! Well done on such a successful weekend everyone.
Congratulations to all the new members. ๐๐คฉ๐๐ป
Congratulations to all and well done!! ๐โค๏ธ๐
Great news, well done all!
Congratulations everyone
Well done to all the newly qualified dogs, their handlers and all of the fantastic team who supported you all the way. Now the hard work, the late nights, the loneliness, the excitement, the sadness, the magic and the real satisfaction truly begins. Hard earned by you all, women, men and dogs. Stay strong and stay safe and I wish you many successful finds along your future journey. We are proud to be associated to you.
Congratulations all well done
Massive congrats to Martina, Sean, Audrey and Winnie again. A mighty achievement. ๐ช๐ป Big thanks also to Edelle who does such a superb job in running this page and the general PR stuff for SARDA. So much work goes on behind the scenes, all on voluntary basis.
YAY!!! ๐ Strong work everyone!! Wish I could have come over to cheer you all on in person but your USA fan club is mighty proud!
Congrats
brilliant news, well done all๐
Well done all!
Well done ๐
Bracken agrees with the dog too.
Voyage is heart broken ๐
Jude Dallas your Molly ๐โค๏ธ๐
Why not??? ๐
Raph O'Connor Clair O'Connor Floss
We can finally reveal the good news! MAXI ZOO IRELAND raised over โฌ28,000 for our charity as part of their Friendship Connects Bracelet campaign.
We are so thankful for every single person who bought a bracelet and supported the cause. We are go grateful to Maxi Zoo Ireland for selecting us. ๐ This is the biggest donation we ever received, and we are totally blown away.
The money raised will help our charity to respond to more searches for missing persons, and train even more search dog teams. ๐
Thank you to everyone for all your support! ๐Thank you ๐ We are delighted that our customers generosity has helped us to raise โฌ28,381.56 through our Friendship Connects Campaign for The National Search and Rescue Dog Association Ireland (SARDA).
The Search and Rescue Dog Association Ireland (SARDA) is a voluntary emergency organization that trains and deploys Air Scenting Search and Rescue Dogs to search for missing persons. The charityโs dog teams, which consist of a handler and their dog, are tasked by An Garda Siochana, the Civil Defence, Irish Mountain Rescue, Red Cross, Coast Guard etc. to search mountains, woodlands, rural and urban areas, waterways as well as the seashore to locate accident or disaster victims.
Rescue dogs come from a wide range of breeds and are trained in a variety of behaviours. Just one dog can do the work of 50 human searchers. Search and Rescue Dogs play a vital role in search and rescue missions and are invaluable when it comes to finding lost and trapped victims.
Funding is hugely important to ensuring adequate training is acquired for the search and rescue dog and their handler. A proficient SAR dog needs lots of training, starting with basic obedience skills. Then search and rescue dogs learn how to track, signal their handlers, and behave appropriately in stressful situations.
Congratulations, well deserved ๐๐
Weโre out and about in Cork! If you see us, be sure to come pet our search dogs!
Thank you everyone for your kind donations! We will be keeping our Facebook donations link open for the rest of the weekend ๐
Apologies lads was hoping to get in to see ye but isolating unfortunately
Come meet Cassu, a trainee air-scenting search dog outside Paul Street Shopping Centre ๐ถ
Today is our collection day! Please consider donating, Facebook Donate will accept as little as โฌ4 and all other goes directly to our charity ๐๐ป
Please also share this post with your friends ๐ฃ
Thank you everyone for your kind donations! Every euro raised will go towards helping our charity continue to train and deploy search dogs!
Our 2022 Street Collection Day is on tomorrow in Cork City!๐ฅณ Come along to Patrick Street to meet our dogs and handlers and donate to our charity!๐พ
This year, we have had to downsize on our normal fundraising activities due to covid. However, we hope that the power of social media will be able to make up for it! If you would like to donate to our charity, please click donate below! Any amount makes a big difference! ๐
Please also like and share this post with your friends, it goes a long way towards spreading the word!๐
Mountain Rescue Ireland National Search and Rescue Dog Association (NSARDA) Search & Rescue County Clare - Ireland Galway Bay FM Emergency Times
A very merry Christmas to all our followers! Thank you to everyone for your support in 2021, itโs been a busy year, but as ever, we are glad we can help.
We hope you all have a safe Christmas ๐
๐ผ
Here is Blue, doing her very best to stay still for her pawtrait, but her puppy ways got the better of her. I think we can all agree that she is cute though!
Merry Christmas guys stay safe and I hope ye all have a lovely Christmas
Happy Christmas to all of you โค๏ธ
Merry Christmas ๐ doggies ๐พ
Today is International Volunteers Day ๐ฅณ But there are more to thank than you might think!
SARDA Ireland have an amazing team of search dogs and handlers that respond to missing person searches across Ireland. ๐๐ป
We have multiple prospective and trainee dog teams that are working their way through training. ๐ช๐ป
We have the best Dogs Bodies ever, who hide for our dogs during training. ๐ค๐ป
We have amazing support from Mountain Rescue Ireland and National Search and Rescue Dog Association (NSARDA) who provide training standards, insurances and everything else thatโs needed to keep the charity going. ๐๐ผ
These are all volunteers, nobody is paid in these roles, and they all spend countless hours ensuring that SARDA Ireland continue to provide the best service that we can. We have been around since 1987, we are the longest standing search dog group in Ireland, and we hope that we can continue to provide this service for years to come! ๐ค๐ป
We have the best supporters: the public are incredibly kind and their donations ensure that we can continue to provide a specialised and high-standard search dog service to the people of Ireland. ๐๐ป๐๐ป๐๐ป
We are also very kindly supported by local landowners, Coillte, National Parks and Wildlife Service, NUI Galway and many others who provide training areas for us. ๐๐ผ
When a call comes in that someone is missing and we deploy a search dog team, itโs thanks to everyone above, and plenty of other people that Iโve forgotten to mention, that we are able to respond.
Itโs not only a team effort, but itโs a national effort ๐ช๐ป
Thank you everyone! ๐๐ป
It's Loki! ๐ฅฐ
Tune into Clare FMs Atlantic Tales this evening from 5pm to hear about SARDA and other search groups talking about what itโs like to be involved in search and rescueJoin Pat Flynn this Sunday evening at 6 oโclock on Clare FM for Atlantic Tales when heโll be celebrating International Volunteers Day with members of some of Clareโs search, rescue and recovery organisations. Bunratty Search & Rescue Irish Cave Rescue Organisation - ICRO RNLI Lough Derg Search and Rescue Dog Association (Ireland) #InternationalVolunteerDay
Join Pat Flynn this Sunday evening at 6 oโclock on Clare FM for Atlantic Tales when heโll be celebrating International Volunteers Day with members of some of Clareโs search, rescue and recovery organisations. Bunratty Search & Rescue Irish Cave Rescue Organisation - ICRO RNLI Lough Derg Search and Rescue Dog Association (Ireland) #InternationalVolunteerDay
Do you ever wonder about how our search and rescue dogs are able to find missing people?
Check out the article below on #rtebrainstorm
There is a great archive clip of search dogs being used in Ireland back in 1989 with Kerry Mountain Rescue Team and Irish Air Corps, and a video focusing on National Search and Rescue Dog Association (NSARDA), our parent organisation.
How search dogs find missing people
www.rte.ie
It takes years of experience, dedication and a lot of scientific knowledge to train and work a search dog
Last weekend, SARDA Ireland held the November National Training Weekend in Oughterard and Galway City.
It was a great weekend filled with lots of learning opportunities for our trainee air-scenting and trailing dog teams.
Our trainee trailing dog teams had the added benefit of having experienced dog handlers, Tim and Ester Sherlock, visiting us from Search and Rescue Dog Association SARDA Wales. SARDA Ireland is very glad to have this link with SARDA Wales as it has enabled us to develop trailing dogs in Ireland. It is all thanks to being part of National Search and Rescue Dog Association (NSARDA), an umbrella organisation for Search Dogs in the UK, Isle of Man and Ireland.
SARDA Ireland would especially like to thank University for the use of campus grounds and Coillte for the use of Galway Wind Park for our trailing dog training areas. These areas provided the opportunity for our trailing dog teams to work in a mixture of terrains and environments.
SARDA Ireland have had a busy weekend responding to 3 separate callouts in Co. Galway, Co. Wexford and Co. Cork. In addition to this, we also had out national training weekend, which we will cover in a later post. Details of this weekend's callouts are as follows:
**CALLOUT**
SARDA Ireland have continued to respond to the ongoing search in the Maam Cross area of Co. Galway. Air scenting dog team Jarlath and Syd responded in the initial days of the search, and this weekend air scenting dog team Louise and Lyla continued to search bogland, forestry and along abandoned railway tracks. Trainee dog handlers Edelle and Jean also provided support to the air scenting dog teams. The search is ongoing for the last 2 weeks.
**CALLOUT**
SARDA Ireland was tasked by AGS on Friday November 19th to a search for a missing male in Rosslare area of Co. Wexford.
Air scenting dog team Gerry and Fia resopnded and searched various areas including coastline and semi-urban areas.
**CALLOUT**
SARDA Ireland was tasked by AGS on Sunday November 21st to a search for a missing male in Co. Cork. Air scenting dog team Louise and Lyla were en-route after completing their search areas at the ongoing missing person search in Co. Galway when the missing person was located by Cork City Civil Defence. Ar dheis Dรฉ go raibh a anam
Ye do such great work!!
Thank you for all the work u do .
Ye and the dogs ๐ do a marvellous job
A massive thank you to Niall and all his Facebook friends for helping raise vital funds for SARDA Ireland. If you would like to donate, please use the link below.
Niall is based in Tipperry and is a volunteer with us. He has a trainee air scenting dog called Croรญa and they are always looking for people from the area to help body (hide) for them, so if youโre looking to try something new, and you are in the vicinity of Tipperary, then give us a shout ๐๐พ
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