Trackr receives recognition award from Kerry FC after winning prestigious Golden Paws award for his work with Kerry Mountain Rescue.
Trackr, the German Shepherd who won a special award at the recent Golden Paw awards in Dublin, was present in Mounthawk Park on Friday night to receive a special recognition award from the club.
Trackr, along with his handler Jean Ryan, works in conjunction with Kerry Mountain Rescue and The Search and Rescue Dog Association of Ireland, assisting Gardaí and the Emergency services search for missing persons.
SARDA is a voluntary 999 Emergency search and rescue organisation assisting in training and call outs.
Kerry FC General Manager Sean O’Keeffe presented the winners with an award from Kerry FC to mark their fantastic achievement.
We would like to thank Jean, her husband Liam, who is a volunteer with Kerry Mountain Rescue and all those in Kerry who work night and day to keep people safe on the mountains in the county.
Further information:
“Trakr is a noble, intelligent and highly skilled black German Shepherd Dog. As members of the voluntary Search and Rescue Dog Association Ireland (SARDA Ireland) and associate members of Kerry Mountain Rescue, Trakr and his handler Jean Ryan work at the top of their game, assisting the Gardaí and other emergency services to search for missing persons across Ireland. SARDA Ireland is a voluntary 999 / 112 emergency search and rescue organisation, concerned with the training, assessment and deployment of Search and Rescue Dogs. Loyal, confident, courageous, and steady, Trakr enjoys a challenging job where his need for purposeful work matches Jean’s love of the hills and the countryside. Search and rescue work can be challenging but it is also hugely fulfilling and exhilarating. Few people get to be as lucky as Jean and experience so many adventures with a dog of Trakr’s ability and stamina. Air-scenting dog teams such as Trakr and Jean are effective in the mountains, woodlands, rural and semi-urban areas, waterways and seashore. Trakr and Jean are available day and night and in many kinds of weather conditions to assist the Gardaí and other services in mountain and lowland rescue. They are also trained and assessed to a very high standard including a three day externally validated assessment over mountain terrain.
Trakr is trained to catch human scent on the wind and then work his way to the source of that scent. This ‘problem solving’ can be from the top to the bottom of a mountainside or over tracks and trails. Once Trakr makes a ‘find’ he comes back to tell Jean and bring her to the missing person. On one occasion Trakr searched into an area already covered by humans and was quickly able to zone in on a missing person concealed in the vegetation. In this context, search dogs ‘see’ with their noses. On many occasions Trakr and Jean have been tasked to search challenging areas and on one specific incident, they were able to bring rapid closure to the family of a person who went missing in a large complex area of woodland. On behalf of the Search and Rescue Dog Association Ireland (SARDA Ireland) and our team committee, I am honoured to nominate Trakr for his excellence in search work. Trakr is an outstanding ambassador for the German Shepherd breed and highly deserving of a Golden Paws Award for his services to the public. “
More information on SARDA Ireland and how to donate:
https://sardaireland.com/
More information on Kerry Mountain Rescue and how to donate:
https://kerrymountainrescue.ie/
