A Labrador retriever deemed too pleasant to turn into a drug-sniffing canine has made a reputation for himself as a star of Taiwan’s earthquake restoration efforts.
Roger, 8, is one in all 4 search and rescue dogs despatched to smell by the rubble of this month’s 7.4-magnitude earthquake, which left at least 16 people dead. Last week, the canine positioned the physique of a 21-year-old lady in Hualien County, the quake’s thirteenth confirmed loss of life, The New York Times reported.
Roger had a winding street to success. As a puppy, he was meant to be skilled as a drug detection canine for customs, nevertheless it quickly turned clear he was not reduce out for that type of work, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency. The young canine was merely “too friendly and boisterous” for the duties required, his now-handler, Lee Hsin Hung, instructed the Times.
The similar qualities that made Roger ill-suited for drug sniffing made him a promising search-and-rescue candidate.
“The requirement for narcotic detection dogs is that they can’t be too restless and independent,” Chen Chih-san, captain of the Kaohsiung Fire Bureau’s rescue canine unit, told CNN. “But [these attributes] are what we want in rescue dogs.”
That persona is a giant a part of what’s made Roger a media sensation. He’s stolen the present on information segments by grabbing the microphone or tearing up a stuffed toy with gusto. Per the Times, Roger has turn into a chat present visitor and media in Taiwan have branded him a “little hero.”
Roger has been part of seven search and rescue missions up to now 4 years, however is about to retire as soon as he reaches age 9, CNA reported, noting that the fireplace bureau will discover an adoptive home for him.
