April 6, 2023 - The Sisak branch of the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (HGSS) has announced that it will apply for the project to build an international training center for search dogs, hoping that the city will become a center where teams from Central and Southeast Europe will come for training.

As Index writes, Sisak HGSS members will apply to the international partnership for financing the project from European funds, said the head of the Novska station and head of the Sisak branch, Branislav Grubić.

The local branch office is also preparing documentation for the reconstruction and extension of its headquarters in the city of Sisak, damaged in the earthquake, which the City of Sisak is helping with 19,000 euros.

Benefits for local businesses as well as tourism

"The knowledge and experience that our people gained in disasters here, in Albania and Turkey, are very valuable and a good basis for a project like this," Grubić believes.

It is expected that with the construction of the training center in Sisak, teams from the wider region and a large part of Central and Southeastern Europe will come to Sisak, which will be useful for local businesses, as well as tourism.

Mayor: We have to make sure that all our emergency services are well equipped

On Wednesday, the project was supported by the mayor Kristina Ikić Baniček with the deputy and head of the city staff of Civil Protection, Marko Krička.

"We have to make sure that all our emergency services are well equipped because when an accident happens, it's too late to think about what they need or lack," said the mayor, recalling the natural disasters they've dealt with in recent years, from floods and earthquakes to storm.

"I am glad that the HGSS branch in Sisak is among the best in Croatia, primarily because of the phenomenal people who are part of their team," said Ikić Baniček.

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January 26, 2021 – Firefighter Srđan Botica from Slano near Dubrovnik was inconsolable after his hero Petrinja rescue dog Alice was poisoned a few days ago. Although irreplaceable, Srđan's friends could no longer stand by and watch him grieve undeservedly, so they bought a brand new Belgian Shepherd puppy to cheer him up

Srđan Botica was inconsolable after the death of his dog, Alice. Although she was still quite young, Alice and Srđan had built a strong bond between them. The training required for a dog like Alice to become a specialist search and rescue dog will have that kind of effect. The relationship Srđan established with Alice was strengthened both in his workplace, where Srđan is a firefighter and at home, which is where Srđan brought Alice each evening.

The final test of the pair's attachment was to be the rubble left in the aftermath of the Sisak Moslavina earthquake. Srđan volunteered to travel from Dubrovnik to help in the response. Alice became a Petrinja rescue dog, scouring the damaged and fallen buildings for survivors. The inseparable pair stayed for six days undertaking their work.

Srdan and Alice at work after the earthquake

As TCN was saddened to report over recent days, the partnership of Srđan Botic and his Petrinja rescue dog Alice was tragically cut short within weeks of their return. Alice was poisoned on the streets of her home in Slano, near Dubrovnik.

Though Petrinja rescue dog Alice was one of a kind and can never be replaced, the friends of firefighter Srđan Botica could no longer sit by and watch his undeserved grief. Over the last couple of days they clubbed together and bought Srđan a new dog. Srđan's new housemate goes by the name of Amy and she's still just a puppy. Amy is a Belgian Shepherd, the exact same breed as Petrinja rescue dog Alice.

It is probably still too early to say whether Amy will follow in Alice's pawsteps to become a search and rescue dog. But, Belgian Shepherds are one of the best-known breeds for this kind of work. They are used as search and rescue dogs by firefighters and mountain rescue in many countries, and as police and military dogs. They have a good reputation as sniffer dogs, particularly in the field of finding illegal drugs. Several Belgian Shepherds have been decorated for bravery and they are very protective of their owners and handlers.

The US Secret Service, Israel Defence Forces, Indian NSG commando unit and Royal Australian Air Force use Belgian Shepherds in their work. The breed is second in number only to the German Shepherd for use across the whole of the US Armed Forces.

January 4, 2021 – No better technology or camera in the world could detect people under the rubble than search dogs. In the recent earthquake that hit Petrinja, Croatian search dogs found two people alive and thus saved their lives.

The earthquake that hit Petrinja, Sisak, Glina, and the surrounding area on December 29, 2020, caused enormous material damage that is still being added up. Along with 14 teams of the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (HGSS), search dogs also searched for the missing in the ruins. Unfortunately, seven people lost their lives in the quake's rubble, but, thanks to search dogs, two were found alive.

Deputy Head of the Service and head of search teams Neven Putar Neno told Jutarnji list that there are no such mechanical means or cameras that could detect a person under the rubble as quickly as dogs.

"When it comes to saving human lives in such catastrophic conditions, the dog is the most important resource because it can detect a person under the rubble the fastest. We have an awful lot of actions, several times a week throughout the year, where dogs find people, live and, unfortunately, dead," said Putar.

He also points out what all rescuers say – a successful search is not the result of any individual or individual dog's work, but the entire team. Along with HGSS and firefighters, members of KOSPP, the Zagreb club for training search dogs, were also on the field.

Dog barking already tells if a person is alive or dead

Stjepan Gal, a ranger in the Nature Park Papuk and HGSS member, arrived with his dog at the quake-hit area at 4 p.m. As he says, the scenes they saw were unreal. Gal and his dog Adi were in the village of Žažina, where the local church collapsed.

At the time of the quake, parishioners who had come to clear up the damage caused by the less devastating earthquake the day before were in the church. When it shook at 12.20, most of them managed to escape from the building, but one person did not. Beneath the ruins remained a trapped organist who was cleaning his instrument, the organ. Unfortunately, by the time Gal arrived, it was already clear that he was unfortunately dead, and the dog Adi confirmed this with his barking at 6:46 p.m.

Search dog Adi / Photo: Stjepan Gal Facebook

Namely, as Gal says, when a person is found alive, Adi barks happily, and when a person is dead, he is upset and sad and has a specific bark, akin to a  growl.

In addition to HGSS members, alpinists and speleologists from Split and firefighters were also at the location. They had to flee the church several times because the ground was shaking all the time, and there was a danger that the rest of the church would collapse on them.

From asylum to HGSS rescue team

The HGSS team from Karlovac, led by Dubravko Butala, also recently arrived in Petrinja. Kruno Stipetić from Ogulin entered the Petrinja City Hall with his dog Draco, where it was suspected that one person was buried under the rubble. Draco signaled that there was a living person inside. Already by the frequency of his barking, Stipetić knows how to recognize whether a person is alive or dead.

Draco is a Belgian Shepherd, seven and a half years old. They wanted to put him to sleep, but Stipetić believed in him, and the dog eventually found and rescued the woman trapped in the rubble.

"When I got him from the asylum, he was aggressive, and everyone said I would fail, but I believed in him. He knows it, and now he's giving me back all the effort. Today, the two of us are called to about 80 percent of Croatia's search operations because we are a perfectly coordinated team. We think and work as one person," says Stipetić.

Search dog Draco / Photo: Kruno Stipetić Facebook

Stipetić also says that search teams have a great responsibility. They are the ones who, after inspecting the ruins, establish that there is no one inside and suspend the further search.

"There is no room for error because human lives are at stake," says Stipetić.

'Saving human lives is our biggest motivation'

Dubravko Butala Bana, an HGSS member with forty years of experience, arrived in Majske Poljane, where the scenes were horrific – the village disappeared in a matter of seconds. His dog Thor first discovered two dead people under the rubble of a house.

According to Butala, unlike some other search dogs, his Toho does not bark differently when he smells a living or dead person. "But he feels my vibe, feels when I'm sad or upset," Butala says.

Dubravko and his search dog Thor / Screenshot HRT

While they were at the first house with the victims, they were informed that there were missing people in another ruin. They hurried there.

"Grandparents were under the ruins. Grandpa was sadly dead, but grandma was alive. As we dug her up, we talked to her, and we checked her pulse. We managed to get her out, and that's our biggest reward. That's why we do this job. Us HGSS members are volunteers, and the saved human life is our biggest motivation," says Butala, who tells us that a dog can smell one human molecule under all those ruins.

Crying comes later

Zoran Laslavić is a firefighter from Opatija who set off to Petrinja immediately after the earthquake, along with his search dog Rain and with a team of firefighters from the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County.

"The search with dogs is just one part of the job we do. The dog is always with me and, if the need arises, that is, when there is a suspicion that we have a missing person, then we go in search, and we do all the other work all the time. Although, as firefighters, we see everything, we have never seen anything like this before," says Laslavić on the situation in Petrinja.

Firefighters Zoran Laslavić (left) and Zoran Ravnić (right) with their dogs / Photo: Zoran Laslavić Facebook

Firefighters are relatively new to working with dogs, compared to HGSS. Laslavić was the initiator of introducing search dogs into firefighters' work in the search for the missing. Today, the service of teams with search dogs has been established, and there are more and more of them all over Croatia. Laslavić is an instructor and leads the training of these dogs in Šapjane.

His wife is also a firefighter and has a search dog, but she did not go to Petrinja. They got a baby a year ago, and their dog Rain adores it.

The search and rescue for missing people was a very emotional experience for all those involved, and they also comforted and helped those who survived. As they work and save lives, rescuers don't think about all that tragedy around them. Emotions come only later when they come home and relax. Then they often cry.

For more on the Petrinja earthquake and to see how you can donate money, food, humanitarian, sanitary and material aid, follow our dedicated section.