PROFILE: Mesut and Maya from Turkey

A young computer programmer dedicated his life to voluntary search and rescue work with his dog Maya in Turkey- a country which occasionally experiences earthquakes. Mesut says “Turkey doesn’t actually appreciate search and rescue dogs”.

Mesut Sari, aged 24, was given his German shepherd dog Maya, aged three, as a present a few years ago. Maya was a ‘gun shy’ one and a half years’ old dog. Mesut trained Maya for a year and says that now “his nose works too well, sometimes this can even be annoying”,

In 2007 Maya passed the first stage rubble search examination and came third in the rubble search competition in Crotia in 2008. Maya is one of five International Rescue Organization certificated dogs in Turkey.

“…search and rescue dogs find human beings and bark, it is more than simply being obedient or a dog wearing a search and rescue dog outfit. But there should be a competency examination for search and rescue dogs in Turkey as in any expertise,

searching for a human under rubble is not less important than the work of doctors in open heart surgery.”

The major difficulty Turkish search and rescue dog handlers experience is lack of respect. Turkish dog handlers have to fly with foreign airlines otherwise they are required to put their dogs in the cargo section of the plane. Mesut has to buy expensive flight tickets for his dog when he flies with foreign airlines. He also complains about inexperienced individuals who seek publicity, fame and money through search and rescue dogs in his country. In spite of everything, Mesut says he really enjoys training search and rescue dogs. He continues:

“If I had chance I would start a campaign called “A search and rescue dog for every household” in Turkey.”

Mesut realizes that this ambition is a bit extreme in a country which has only a few certificated search and rescue dogs.

Mesut is a witty gentleman, ends the interview with a poignant story that he heard from his dog handler colleagues who worked in the 1999 Turkey earthquake:

“A Turkish family stole a search and rescue dog.  They returned the dog to the international team, saying “Sorry brother, we borrowed your dog to find our father’s body. “