Lora is a determined young rescue dog who is training at the Pest County Rescue Investigation Service just outside the Hungarian capital Budapest.
When Euronews visited the service it was scouring waste ground full of masonry and pipes – land that was specially laid out to resemble the debris and pick up debris after an earthquake. beating.
Her job is to find a hidden person, just as she would after an earthquake. It seems like a simple task for the dog as she easily finds her handler hidden in a big pipe, but she still has harder training to complete.
“Dog training takes two full years. We train them for three or four hours every day during the week, and on the weekends, when the whole team is there, it can even take up to take six to seven hours, “said Tímea Balázs -Vidáts, one of the dog handlers.
Every so often, the dogs are sent to challenging situations in distant lands.
They have helped locate earthquake victims in northern Pakistan as well as people trapped in the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia.
But since the outbreak of the pandemic and the economy, the service has been in financial trouble.
The lion’s share of its income comes from private donations, which have fallen sharply due to a recent economic crisis.
The organization is still able to assist in an emergency, but cannot do further development or planning in the future.
Polly is another rescue dog that can help deal with emergencies closer to home.
Along with 17 other dogs, she helped rescue about 150 people last year who found themselves in trouble in Hungary.
Lost hikers in the mountains, or even people with dementia and other mental health ailments who have just lost their way, are all thrilled to be found by a friendly dog wagging its tail. .
While a team of 35 people volunteers, helping Hungarian police and firefighters, training the dogs takes a lot more time, energy and money.