Footage released by the county fire department on Saturday showed Roger, an eight-year-old labrador, mounting a boulder that had fallen across a hiking trail near Hualien’s Taroko National Park.
“Have you found something? Let’s go over there,” said a rescuer to Roger, who did not budge.
The mayor of southern Kaohsiung – which sent a rescue team and dogs including Roger – said the labrador specialises in “rubble pile search and rescue” and that he is trained to search for survivors.
“Roger must have found some clues and his confused look made the handler feel something was up, and then they found the victim,” said Mayor Chen Chi-mai in a Facebook post titled “The Paw Paw Team’s feat”.
Handler Lee Hsin-hung said Roger located a victim “just five minutes after setting off”, and praised the dog’s confidence in an unfamiliar terrain.
