Kilian found 17 people that were under the rubble
After the February earthquakes, it was not only the experts in the search and rescue teams who rushed to help the people of Türkiye. The dogs in the search teams also saved many lives in the earthquake area. One of them was Kilian, the 6-year-old search dog that came with the Bulgarian Volunteer Team of 33 people. Kilian, with its Bulgarian trainer, a firefighter in Sweden, searched in Maraş for five days with the team. It entirely facilitated the team's work and found 17 people that were under the rubble.
Kilian would bark five times
“Killian would search a larger area than us in record time, and the result would be much more accurate than ours. The dog was like a self-sufficient searching unit, and it was very valuable to us. When the local people saw Killian, they would applaud because they knew that the dog could find people that we didn't find. And the dog only would bark when it found alive people, not dead people. And it would bark five times, not four, not six. Exactly five times. So we would wait for that sound,” says George Vlaykov, the Bulgarian Team Leader.
Kilian with the Bulgarian team
Given certificate and dog food
After the mission in Türkiye, the team had a short break in Edirne on their way back to Bulgaria and attended a ceremony held for them at the Edirne Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The star of the ceremony was definitely the hero Kilian.
“We also created a certificate of participation for Kilian and gave it dog food as a reward. When Kilian saw the dog food, it got so excited and confused the commands,” says Elif Yardımcı, Edirne European Union Information Center Coordinator.
Kilian with Elif Yardımcı in Edirne
Search dogs save lives
Search dogs can locate the people under the rubble by sniffing the air. The note, shared by European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) on its social media accounts after the February earthquakes, emphasises the importance of search dogs again:
“Search and rescue dogs are essential to saving lives in the aftermath of an earthquake. Well-trained search and rescue dogs help to make the searches precise and increase the chance of success.”
The EU has supported Türkiye since day one. Over 1,600 experts from 21 EU and partner countries worked with 111 search dogs in the earthquake zone.
Proteo in Türkiye and Arkadaş in Mexico
Turkish search dog "Arkadaş" in Mexico
On the other hand, “Arkadaş” (Friend) from Türkiye will keep alive the memory of Proteo, the Mexican Search and Rescue Team dog, who lost his life because of old age and long-distance right after arriving in Türkiye.
“This puppy was going to be handed to the Mexican Search and Rescue Team in Adıyaman as a gesture of gratitude and respect for Proteo's legacy; however, it was too young for such a long trip back to Mexico. I am really glad that the mission is completed now!” says Tuğrul, the volunteer interpreter of the Mexican rescue team in Adıyaman and then the Spanish Field Hospital team in Samandağ, Hatay. "Arkadaş" will serve in a Turkish flag vest after its training.