TAINAN CITY TRAINS ITS OWN RESCUE DOGS|震災中救援建功 台南推搜救犬馴養計畫

In last year's Tainan earthquake, rescue dogs from home and abroad helped retrieve victims from collapsed buildings. After months of training, the Tainan City Government now has two Labrador rescue dogs of its own. Meet Kenna and Kathy. Upon being given an order, Kenna, the rescue dog, will try to locate people thought to have been trapped in an earthquake. Simple as it may seem, the training takes 8 months. Dog handlers say they develop an affection for rescue dogs as if they were family. ==LIU YEN-HUANG dog handler== After you develop an affection for rescue dogs, they are willing to be close to you. Then you are able to train them. ==LAI YING-JUI dog handler== During the training, whether it is a weekday or holiday, we take the rescue dogs out for off-site training in Tainan precinct. During the Tainan earthquake last year, rescue dogs from other cities helped retrieve people trapped in the debris. Subsequently, the Tainan City Government's Fire Bureau set up a training project of its own. So far, two dogs have become rescue dogs. They are Kathy and Kenna. Both of them passed the International Rescue Dog Organisation examination with flying colors. ==TSAI CHENG-YU Head, Disaster Rescue Div., Tainan City Fire Bureau== We used to work with the local agencies on an ad hoc basis. They may always not be ready for duty. After the training of our own two rescue dogs, once there is a disaster, we can respond quickly to it. Keeping these dogs, however, is not cheap. Over the past 8 months, feeding and vaccinating Kathy and Kenna have led to a NT$600,000 bill. The Tainan Fire Department said that depending on its budget outlook, it is considering training more dogs to make rescue missions more efficient. TRANSLATED BY：BRYANT CHANG