Failed Police Labrador Retriever Becomes Taiwan Earthquake Rescue Hero

Last week Taiwan suffered a 7.4 magnitude earthquake which injured more than 1,000 people. Sadly, nine people died. One of the heroes of the aftermath of this catastrophic event is a Labrador Retriever named Roger, who has been helping to rescue people trapped in the wreckage.

Roger first began his career in service as a failed police drug detection dog.

CNN reports Roger was born into a training center for drug-sniffing dogs. But his love for fun, food and people got the better of him, distracting his ability to pay attention and react to his trainers’ commands.

As a result, Roger failed to become a drug detective.

But his ebullient personality and intelligence made him a much better candidate to be a rescue dog, which was the career that was then chosen for him.

Related: Specially-Trained Rescue Dogs Sent to Turkey to Help Find Earthquake Survivors

The article goes on to say that Roger had taken part in seven operations during his career, including a debut mission in the aftermath of a deadly 6.4-magnitude quake that hit the same region in 2018.

During this most recent quake, Roger and his handlers found the body of a missing 21-year-old woman.

What an amazing (and good!) boy Roger is and he's just the perfect example of how sometimes you think you know what you want to do with your life and then you realize you were better suited to a different career all along. With his friendly attitude I'm sure Roger provides a lot of comfort to the people he helps after this awful disaster.

Here's How Police K9s Help Find People After Disasters

The Criminal Justice NY Government website explains that their are different types of dogs used in different rescue missions. Police K9s may be used as well as these other dogs for locating people who are lost or stranded.

'Airscent' dogs work with their nose in the air, will ignore ground scent and will follow and locate people by catching the "hot" scent of people on the wind. Avalanche dogs are trained to detect human scent rising up from the snow and dig until they find the victim.

Search and rescue dogs are trained to follow commands, navigate unstable terrain, and work in various environments, including collapsed buildings, rubble piles, and debris fields.

Dogs can access areas that are difficult or impossible for humans or machinery to reach, such as confined spaces, unstable structures, or debris piles that happen after a natural disaster like an earthquake.

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