Rescued Dog Pearl Rescues Survivors in Japan

Pearl, a black Labrador rescued from a shelter by the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation, is saving lives in Japan.

Pearl, a 4-year-old Labrador retriever was left at an animal shelter in 2008 when her family became unable to care for her. Many pets that go to shelters meet grim fates—but luckily, Pearl’s life was saved by volunteers from the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation. Now, she’s returning the favor by saving lives all over the world.

The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation spent months teaching Pearl to sniff out survivors from debris. Once she’d proven herself as a worthy search-and-rescue dog, the group donated her to the Los Angeles County Fire Department to assist in rescue missions in L.A. and around the world.

Last year, Pearl and her handler, Ron Horetski, traveled to Haiti to aid in earthquake search-and-rescue operations. Their team spent two weeks going through the devastation, digging as far as four stories below ground to bring survivors to safety. Pearl and her handler were able to save the lives of 12 people during their time there.

Now, Pearl’s on a new mission: She and her handler have traveled to Japan to take part in search and rescue efforts there. Pearl and her fellow rescue dogs and their handlers are prepared to do whatever it takes to locate and help the earthquake’s survivors—and Debra Tosch, the Executive Director of the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation is hopeful that the team’s successes will help the organization raise funding to train more search-and-rescue dogs.

“The devastation in Japan underscores the critical importance of having the most highly skilled Canine Search Teams ready to deploy—locally, nationally and internationally—at a moment’s notice,” she told the Danville Patch.

Learn more about the Search Dog Foundation.