Two well-trained rescue dogs from British Columbia played a pivotal role in saving a three-year-old boy trapped for six days under rubble following two devastating earthquakes in Venezuela. The boy, identified by Reuters as Klieber Moran, was rescued early Tuesday and was the only survivor found on the sixth day of rescue efforts.
Dogs Key to Live Find at Abandoned Site
Pele, a seven-year-old Dutch Shepherd, and Reuben, a six-year-old Belgian Malinois, are members of the Burnaby Urban Search and Rescue Team. They traveled to Venezuela last week with seven human colleagues to join international canine and rescue crews. Their mission: find anyone still trapped and search for the deceased to bring closure to families.
Two powerful earthquakes—magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5—struck within a minute of each other on June 24, toppling buildings and killing thousands. According to CBC, the death toll had exceeded 3,500 as of Wednesday.
The Burnaby team operated in the La Guaira area north of Caracas, searching more than 30 sites. Pele and Reuben helped locate 35 people, three of whom were still alive.
Dogs Trained to Distinguish Live from Deceased
At one site, Venezuelan firefighters were about to give up because they had heard no signs of life. The Burnaby team offered Pele and Reuben, both trained to distinguish between living people and bodies. As soon as the dogs reached the site, both barked to indicate a live find, said Ryan Berry, a member of the Burnaby team.
“Our dogs finding that person is what kept the site from being left behind,” Berry said. The human crew then used technology to pinpoint the exact location. After working with the Venezuelan team for a couple of hours, they handed off the operation to a larger U.S. team. Later, they learned a three-year-old boy had been pulled from the rubble—weak but alive.
Emotional Impact on Handlers
“The dogs’ handlers were emotional,” Berry said. “It’s a hard situation to describe. Every site we were going to had people who were covered in dust digging with their bare hands trying to find their family. So it recharged our batteries, I would say, and confirmed that we were helping, that we were on the right path, and it motivated us to keep going.”
Berry noted the team worried about the heat and gave the dogs frequent breaks in air-conditioned vehicles.
Volunteer Team Relies on Donations
Burnaby Urban Search and Rescue has about 33 members, all first-responders—firefighters, police officers, or paramedics—who volunteer their time. Donations to support the team can be made at burnabyusar.ca.
