You have been mugged, attacked by some people or you have got stuck in a fire, with little chances of saving yourself; in any of these situations, a dog especially trained is definitely your saviour!

The robber passed around the corner; he had to escape his chasers; with a professional’s eye, he searched every nook and cranny, looking for an entry. He circled the construction, measuring the windows and the barred doors; “It isn’t working”, he told himself nervously and crossed the yard covered in high, dense grass. Finally, he chuckled in a satisfied manner.

Stuffing the prey in his pocket, he headed for a hard to spot annexe and hid behind a wall, certain of his triumph... In less than two minutes, Max was on his trail; he had sensed his scent even from the fence, which he jumped across with the typical agility of the German shepherd. Step by step, the dog followed the crook’s route, stopping by the windows, doors, shrubberies, sniffing each centimetre of the yard and scrutinising the surroundings. Without hurrying, the animal crept upon the thief; when he knew the latter was within a jump, Max took a moment to calculate his movement time, then grabbed hold of the thief, immobilising him without even leaving a scratch.

24 Rescue Dogs in Craiova

Heavy applauds, hearty congratulations, kids admiring Max, trying to pet him; from the podium installed in the yard of the Veterinary High School in Malu Mare, partner in this activity along with Local Ministry of Education, General Inspectorate for the Emergency Situation (IGSU), Liviu Ionescu, president of Centrul de Educare Canina, announced the end of the first demonstration of the International Day of Rescue Dogs.

In the assembly, the other participants aligned next to their owners, calmly and alertly waiting for commands. Of the 24 dogs registered until today (of which two are stray dogs), at yesterday’s demonstration six rescue dogs from Craiova took part, highly trained for extreme conditions: rubble search and rescue, rough ground search, mountain and water rescue, toxic environment and fire rescue.

Along with “Big” Max, number one specialist in track missions, several other dogs were presented: Puff – a splendid Golden Retriever, Tora – a golden Labrador with experience in rescue operations, Max the Rottweiler – used often by the police in defence and guard operations, but at the same time an ideal child protector, Zaris – a Caucasian Shepherd that impresses through size and skill, Skip – a cute and experienced rescuer Spanish Cocker and “Little” Max, also a German Shepherd, recommended for search, rescue and defence missions, as well as for accompanying blind or persons with disabilities.

To the delight of numerous students come from all over the county to join in yesterday’s activities, the programme continued with several other manifestations, rescue scenarios “played” by the canines and their owners, members of Centrul de Educare Canina. Isolated at the story of a building on fire, the fearless fire fighters and their dogs were forced to save each other, by rope-climbing the walls.

Nearby, the two dogs named Max – the German Shepherd and the Rottweiler – proved their ability to hold against attackers. In the second part of the day, contests were organised: the best drawing on “The child and the dog”, the best rescuer and the most beautiful poem named “My friend, the dog”. There followed a canine parade and the day ended with an award ceremony. As confirmed by Liviu Ionescu, yesterday’s manifestation was a pilot programme and this type of action will take place in every Romanian town with a canine education centre starting from 2010.

“Today’s action was organised by and for children because, from our standpoint, an interactive children programme is much more interesting than a simple park parade. Thus, the message we send can be better understood: young people’s realisation that canine help in different emergency situations or in therapy programmes is by far superior to medical programmes. Craiova is the only city in the country that takes this project to schools, high-schools and kindergartens. Our centre will send the recordings to IRO, which will help attract international media coverage. If we end among the winners, euro-observers will be expected here from next year”, commented Liviu Ionescu.

Teach your dogs to save you! There is no condition for entering your dog in rescue programmes. Any breed is accepted, even stray dogs; the important thing is that your “friend” passes several psycho-canine tests. Then, in a period of six to twelve months, he will become the safest companion, a daring defender and a trained rescuer. All you have to do is to register him at the Centrul de Educare Canina Craiova.