Mexico sends its famous search and rescue dogs

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Mexico has sent a team of its famous search and rescue dogs to help locate earthquake survivors in Turkey. Dogs are trained to sniff out people in rubble. At least 16 dogs have been sent from Mexico to Turkey, according to Mexico’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. Something is loading.

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Mexico sent a team of its famous search and rescue dogs to help search for survivors under the rubble in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said a plane carrying 16 of the dogs took off from Mexico on Tuesday.

—Marcelo Ebrard C. (@m_ebrard) February 7, 2020

Ebrard shared several photos of the dogs, including the Belgian Malinois, Australian Shepherd, and Labrador.

A dog and a handler sent by the Mexican Navy to search for earthquake survivors in Turkey. @m_ebrad / twitter

Also included in the trip were the dogs and their handlers, search and rescue experts from the Mexican Army, Navy personnel, State Department officials and members of the Red Cross, a government press release to CNN said.

Search and rescue dogs gained prominence in 2017 after they helped rescue efforts following the earthquake in Mexico that killed hundreds of people.

A yellow Labrador named Frida, pictured wearing goggles and boots, became a national icon after she was seen helping to search for survivors.

Frida, a Mexican Navy rescue dog, takes part in the search effort for people trapped in the Ripsamine School in Mexico City, on September 22, 2017, in the aftermath of the earthquake. Omar Torres/AFP via Getty Images

She was credited with saving dozens of people in Haiti in 2010 and locating more than 40 bodies in operations in various countries over nearly a decade.

Although Frida died last year, another dog who helped rescue efforts from the 2017 earthquake was among those who traveled to Turkey, the BBC reported.

Mexico isn’t the only country sending dogs, as dogs and handlers are also sent by the US, UK, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Libya, Poland and Switzerland, according to the BBC.

A dog from Mexico searches for earthquake survivors under rubble in Adiyaman, Turkey. @m_ebrad / twitter

The animals are trained to sniff out humans and are often used in areas where the use of heavy machinery might cause debris to collapse and put people in further danger.

Officials said Saturday that the 7.8-magnitude quake has killed more than 24,000 people.

Survivors are still being pulled out of destroyed buildings five days after the quake.

Turkish authorities said today, Saturday, that two women trapped for 122 hours were discovered alive amid the rubble of collapsed buildings in Turkey.

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