Happy New Year!

We began 2025 with a busy few weeks of training, assessments and scenario based exercises.

Firstly, we headed over to Ireland for a week of instruction, assessments and re-assessment. We started with Dublin and Wicklow Mountain Rescue Teams with 2 days of training followed by a trip to Northern Ireland to work with K9 Search & Rescue NI for 3 days (This included a search for a missing person in Larne). In total, 20 dogs and their handlers were involved in the training sessions that week.

On the 13th January we were at Wrexham University where we conducted some demonstrations for a forensic science student conference and in the evening of the same day we attended the Inner Wheel meeting in Penmaenmawr where we gave a presentation on our work and training programmes etc.

On the 17th January we conducted our first session in Penmaenmawr where we conducted 4 assessments (one in each pathway). Congratulations to the following teams:

Simon Brothwood and his search dog Bertie - Cadaver Detection (Land)

Sara Turnbull and her search dog Maya - Cadaver Detection (Water)

Phill Abbiss and his search dog Freya - Live Person (Air Scenting)

Jenny Windley and her search dog Finn - Live Person (Mantrailing)

On Saturday the 18th January we conducted a scenario based search operation involving all 4 pathways and over 12 handlers and their dogs took part in a large scale search on the uplands on Penmaenmawr. 

In the next few weeks we are heading to Poland on the 29th January for a week of training and instructing and then from the 14th-16th February we are conducting a collapsed building search weekend and in March we will hosting a Water Search session where we will be welcoming teams from Denmark and Sweden. More information and details on these session will follow soon.