Canine support: Denti and Frankie pictured here held by rescue personnel, deployed for search and rescue in Turkiye. — Reuters
PETALING JAYA: Tracker dogs Denti and Frankie are on their first mission abroad, less than two months after their high-profile search and rescue job during the Batang Kali landslide.
Both canine heroes of the Fire and Rescue Department’s K9 unit were put on an 11-hour flight on Wednesday night to Istanbul where they would be deployed to southern Turkiye for the SAR mission to locate casualties of the massive earthquake.
They were accompanied by their handlers, said K9 unit chief Donny Chap.
Their handlers, Tony Albert Mani and Y. Thibagaran, were among the 30 Bomba personnel involved in the Turkiye SAR mission, said Donny.
Denti, a Labrador Retriever and Frankie, an English Springer Spaniel, would be helping rescuers find earthquake victims, he said.
“For now, only Denti and Frankie have been deployed to Turkiye. It is the first overseas mission for these dogs,” he said when contacted yesterday.
Donny said that two other dogs were on standby.
“The K9 unit acts as a facilitator for the rescue team, depending on canine senses to help locate people buried under the rubble,” he added.
“They will work in 12-hour shifts with breaks.”
He said the dogs had been given sufficient rest following their hard work in the Batang Kali SAR mission.
“They were given enough rest and were not used for a certain period of time after a major operation,” he said.
The Batang Kali landslide struck on Dec 16, 2022, claiming 31 lives.
Denti, Frankie and four other rescue dogs – Blake, Grouse, Lady and Pop – were awarded “Hero Malaysia” medals by animal rights society Persatuan Haiwan Terbiar Malaysia for their work during the SAR operations.
On Wednesday night, Bomba Tactical Operations Rescue Team of Malaysia (STORM) chief commander Ismail Abd Ghani said the tracker dogs were being utilised to maximise the rescue efforts.
“These dogs are part of the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART), so they are ready to be deployed anywhere abroad,” he told reporters during the SAR mission send-off at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
Ismail said the dogs were trained to find victims, alive or deceased.
He also said the 11-hour flight to Istanbul was not an issue as they had been assessed for their ability to travel by air.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah, Sarawak Affairs and Special Duties) Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali said the canines were included in the mission to ensure the Malaysian rescue team could carry out the SAR operations more effectively.
On Monday, Malaysia sent the first team of 70 SMART personnel to Turkiye.
The second batch of Malaysian rescuers, who left on Wednesday, comprised 20 SMART personnel, 30 from Bomba and 30 members of the Civil Defence Force.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Malaysia would also donate US$2mil (RM8.6mil) to Turkiye and Syria to help the earthquake victims there.
Anwar said the Defence Ministry was assembling a team of military doctors and paramedics to mobilise a field hospital in Turkiye.
