owland Search Dogs is a national search and rescue dog organisation on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Formed in 2002, we work closely with the Police and other emergency services to locate missing people. On average, we are called out 150-200 times per year, often to help locate the most vulnerable people in our community such as children and the elderly. All of our team members are volunteers who give their time and their knowledge for free. Although we work closely with the emergency services, all our work is funded by contributions from individuals and local companies. This generous support enables us to keep our volunteers on the front line of searches. Please come and talk to us at our stand. We don't bite and neither do our dogs!

You can also find more details about us at http://www.lsdogs.org.uk

Steve Ball and dog Morgan. Morgan is 7 years old, the only qualified Parsons Jack Russell Search and Rescue Dog in the UK, and a veteran of over forty callouts to search for lost and vulnerable missing people. Recently Morgan saved the life of a 17 year old overdose victim by telling his handler Steve that he was hidden near a river.

Matt Cooke and dog Charlie. Charlie is a 6 year old black and white Border Collie who has been on more than sixty operations since 2007 including assisting police on the Ascension Island off the coast of Africa. This was a particularly difficult search looking for a high profile missing person on the island due to the extreme temperature and rocky terrain. Their successes include: Reuniting a missing woman found suffering with hypothermia just before Christmas with her family. She had been missing for many hours in the freezing winter night. They have also assisted the police in finding a male buried underground in a suitcase, who was a victim of a murder. Another find was offering closure to a family when Charlie found another missing person, unfortunately deceased.

Vanessa Courtney and dog Sam. Sam is a 9 years old German Short-haired Pointer (GSP) who has participated in over fifty operational searches since 2004. Sam has found two vulnerable missing people during his long search career. On his very first search Sam found an unconscious woman deep in woodland who was airlifted to hospital. Police reported that her chances of surviving the night would have been slim had she not been found. In July 2008 Sam located a man suffering from depression and whose motor bike had been found abandoned. He had been in woodland for 2 days when he was found by Sam. Sam lives at home with 8 year old Zoe, another GSP search dog who recently located a deceased man and enabled rescue services to bring him back to his family.

Lowland Search Dogs
Chairman Séamus Kearns
Email: chairman@lsdogs.org.uk
Website www.LSDogs.org.uk