The nation’s six search-and-rescue dogs were yesterday conferred with officer ranks within their respective firefighting units, including a five-year-old dog that helped save lives in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake two years ago.
Tie-hsiung (“Iron Hero,” 鐵雄), received “One Star on Two Horizontal Bars,” a Grade 8 ranking that is the equivalent of team leader or sergeant, the National Fire Agency said in Taipei.
Tie-hsiung of the Taichung Fire Bureau became a household name in Taiwan after helping to find two people trapped under a partly collapsed building in the aftermath of a magnitude 6 earthquake in Hualien on Feb. 6, 2018.
Photo: CNA
The five other dogs, named Eva, Beta, Kathy, Kenna and Paul, were each conferred “Four Stars on One Horizontal Bar,” which is the equivalent of Grade 9 on the agency’s 11-tier grading system, with Grade 1 being the top-ranking supervisor.
The dogs serve in units at the Taipei City Fire Department, New Taipei City Fire Department, Tainan City Fire Bureau and Pingtung Bureau of Fire and Emergency Services.
At the presentation ceremony in Taipei, Tie-hsiung’s handler, Lee Chun-sheng (李俊昇), said that his dog has participated twice in the Mission and Readiness Test, an international certification by the International Search and Rescue Dog Organization.
Taiwan also hosted the Mission and Readiness Test Asia event in November last year, in which all of the nation’s six rescue dogs participated and were certified by the organization.
Tie-hsiung took part in his first Mission and Readiness Test event in 2017, Lee said.
The Labrador also participated in the annual World Championship for Rescue Dogs in France in September last year.
Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said that only seven dogs from Asia were certified by the organization last year, six of which were from Taiwan.
Hsu said that 31 Taiwanese rescue dogs have so far been certified by the Switzerland-based international organization.
At the ceremony, a celebration was also held to honor four retired rescue dogs, which would be moving to new homes after being adopted by families.
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