In Search of the Missing

by Mick McCarthy

  When people buy a dog as a present for elderly people, they tend to buy a small pup. A bigger dog would be better as an elderly person is more likely to fall over a small dog than a bigger one, and there are plenty of older dogs in rescue centres looking for a good home. It’s also important to take into consideration the consequences of owning a dog, as elderly people who become dog owners may also become isolated. For example, elderly people may stop visiting relatives or friends if they cannot bring their dogs with them, or may not have anyone at home to take care of the dogs while they are away. They can then become prisoners in their own homes, and miss out socially. Much thought should also be put into buying a pup as a present for a child. Unless the family can provide the pup with proper, long-term care, the idea of owning a dog should be abandoned.

  All dog owners must act responsibly at all times, and should never allow their pets to wander and mate with whatever happens along the way. Whether big dogs or small, many misconceptions exist about the difference between breeds. The fact that all dogs are related to and bred from wolves is often forgotten. The safest breed for a family pet is a pure-bred wolf. There is no known record of a healthy wolf attacking a human in the wild anywhere in the world. The reverse is true of wolves in captivity. At a minimum, a wolf needs an acre of space to roam. For years now, I’ve been thinking about buying a wolf, and recently just missed the boat when a guy in North Main Street in Cork had a pure-bred Canadian wolf for sale. I dilly-dallied over the decision for so long that he was gone by the time I had made up my mind to take him.

  Regardless of what breed of dog is chosen, the bottom line is that dogs turn out as good as they are reared. At the end of the day, it all comes down to the owner’s knowledge of dogs and how that information is used to properly train and socialise the dog. Perfect practice makes perfect. And yes, you can teach an old dog new tricks. It will take longer than it would to train a pup because old habits are hard to change. But it can be done – dogs are never too old to learn. An episode of the TV series MythBusters backs this up: two of the presenters set out to prove wrong that adage about old dogs and new tricks. Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman each took on the challenge of teaching a seven-year-old Alaskan malamute five new tricks in just one week. The two dogs then competed against each other in a trial. In the exam, Adam’s dog CeCe obediently performed all of Adam’s commands: to heel, sit, go down, give his paw, and stay put for a certain length of time. CeCe was awarded full marks. Jamie’s dog played a blinder, too, until he reached the ‘stay’ command and refused to remain still for the necessary length of time. Nevertheless, the presenters proved that you can, indeed, teach an old dog new tricks. It’s never too late.

  The Ministers and the Muzzles

  In June 1991 Pádraig Flynn, the minister for the environment, introduced regulations that required certain breeds of dogs to wear a muzzle in public. The regulations applied to the American pit bull terrier, bulldog, bull mastiff, Doberman pinscher, English bull terrier, Japanese Akita, Japanese tosa, Rhodesian ridgeback, Rottweiler, Staffordshire bull terrier and German shepherd. As well as wearing a muzzle, the listed dogs were required to wear a collar inscribed with their owner’s name and address, or with the same information on a badge or disc attached to the collar. Only a week earlier, Dex had been awarded a plaque for outstanding achievement at the last German shepherd show at which unmuzzled dogs could be legally exhibited.

  Doggy people were outraged by the regulations. Strong opposition was voiced against the minister’s inclusion of particular breeds on the dangerous-dog list. Arguments were put forward that many of the listed dogs, especially the bulldog, would face much hardship if muzzled as they perspired through the tongue. One bulldog owner said it was like placing a plastic bag over a dog’s head. Others argued that careless owners would not heed these laws, and so they would probably affect only conscientious owners – those who act responsibly by socialising their dogs and never leaving them alone with children. These were the ones who would pay the price.

  The Campaign Against Muzzling (CAM) was formed in protest against the minister’s legislation. The first action group was set up in Limerick, followed by Cork, Dublin and Galway. Support spread through the country like wildfire. CAM accepted the dangers presented by fighting dogs – such as pit bull terriers and tosas – but criticised the minister for taking the wrong approach to the problem. CAM argued that the existing licensing and registration measures operated by the Irish Kennel Club were good enough to deal with the situation, and recommended that the legislation should be aimed at the owners rather than at the breeds. Seán Reidy, spokesperson for CAM, demanded that the legislation should punish the deed, not the breed. He warned that the minister was not dealing with individual people scattered throughout the country but with a strong, nationwide network of dog clubs. The Irish Veterinary Association and the Irish Kennel Club backed the campaign.

  Some owners, in a panic, tried to get rid of cross-bred, listed dogs. Many appealed to kennel owners to take them. Other dog owners whose breeds were not on the minister’s list feared that more breeds would be added in due course. The Welsh-based search-and-rescue dog unit – which regularly assisted in search-and-rescue operations in the Republic of Ireland – withdrew its services while the muzzling law was applied to their dogs. It even refused to send over Labradors and other dogs not affected by the ruling. Louis O’Toole of the Kerry Mountain Rescue Team stressed the fact that Ireland could find itself in a very serious situation if there was a disaster here like the Lockerbie plane crash.

  Despite the growing support for CAM, the minister failed to respond to any contacts from the group, which had lobbied for the exemption of guide dogs and rescue dogs before the introduction of the legislation. A gathering of funds got underway in anticipation of a High Court action. Within a few days of the introduction of the new law, the minister saw some sense. He granted a reprieve to German shepherds working as guide dogs for the blind and as search dogs for mountain-rescue teams. However, though guide dogs were exempted from wearing a muzzle in public, this immunity was not extended to German shepherd rescue dogs. As a result, Dex was required to wear a muzzle at all times except when working as a search dog. This implied that he was ‘dangerous’ when on-lead and at my side but ‘safe’ when off-lead and away from me. Typical Irish solution to an Irish problem!

  This was a complete joke. Was I expected to walk Dex into a field wearing a muzzle and then take it off in front of a farmer? If I did that, a farmer would naturally view the dog as being dangerous and was likely to ban us from using his land for fear of an attack on his sheep. In light of the high level of training Dex had received, I refused to muzzle him at any time, and felt compelled to withdraw him from carrying out search-and-rescue operations. Officials at Pádraig Flynn’s department promised to review Dex’s situation with regard to the muzzling law. But time moved on and the law still stood. During this period, I received phone calls from the secretary of the Department of the Environment pleading with me to reverse my decision about not going on search-and-rescue missions.

  In February 1992 Mary O’Connor of Blackpool in Cork became the first dog owner in the country to be prosecuted under the new law. She had been walking her unmuzzled German shepherd towards the Glen when a garda stopped her. On the day of the hearing, Dex and I joined a large group of protestors outside the courthouse in Washington Street in Cork. I stood with an unmuzzled Dex at my side and a placard in my hand rejecting the minister’s new, and, in my opinion, unjust law. Mary O’Connor was fined £15, which she paid even though the judge acknowledged that she did, indeed, look after her dog, and that she had trained him well.

  In the coming weeks, harsh as it may seem, I refused to let Dex search for a man missing in Connemara. Instead, Neil’s collie Pepper was brought down from Northern Ireland to look for him. As collies were exempt from the muzzling legislation, Pepper could work without a muzzle. At the time, I said that unless Dex was granted total exemption from the muzzling law
, he would not be helping in any future rescues. I was furious. All we were hearing from the Department of the Environment was that dog controls were under review. It was now August 1992 and the whole affair had been dragging on for over a year, with no resolution. I had to take a stance. It would have been impossible for me to carry out a search with a muzzled dog and trying to do so would have caused great hardship to Dex. The search might last for hours and Dex might overheat, or find it hard to breathe. Also, the muzzle would prevent him having a drink of water. As it was likely that the muzzle would become entangled in branches, particularly in dense undergrowth, it might be hard for me to find Dex, since he would have worked by ranging ahead on his own, and he might have been left to die. Going on strike with Dex had gained the attention of the media. RTÉ radio contacted me to give interviews to David Hanley and Marian Finucane. I agreed, and received a gruelling over my strike action on both Liveline and Morning Ireland. I explained that it was the government that was preventing me from going out to search, and I stressed the fact that I was a responsible dog owner and had trained my dog to a high level. Why would a responsible dog owner walk the streets with a potentially dangerous dog?

  Overall, the media response to my action was bad. One newspaper reporter wrote, ‘who does Mick McCarthy think he is putting children’s lives at risk and playing God with people’s lives?’ No mention was made of the fact that I was a responsible owner – and an unpaid volunteer – being punished for the irresponsible actions of others.

  Months went by, and then the new Minister for the Environment, Michael Smith, was due in Cork. I decided that I would walk an unmuzzled Dex through Cork city on the day of his visit so as to highlight the ridiculous nature of the ruling regarding Dex and to give the gardaí the opportunity to enforce the law. I needed to bring the issue to a head, and I told the gardaí beforehand of my plan. I was only doing what I had always done, as for many years I had walked Dex through the city every Saturday afternoon. As part of his ongoing training, it was important for him to mix with people in a social setting and to feel comfortable in public places. It was vital that he wasn’t restricted.

  The sun was shining as I strolled into Patrick Street with Dex and stood in front of Eason’s. A garda soon arrived and stood beside me. When I explained to him that I had no choice but to make a stand, all he said was, ‘Okay.’ Other people came along and stood with me in support. Many of them were total strangers. Having stood there for some time, Dex and I then walked up Patrick Street to Daunt Square, and into Grand Parade. Believe it or not, halfway up through Oliver Plunkett Street, Dex left a present of the biggest parcel ever, which I can tell you I cleaned up fast with the help of a local pet-shop owner and some disinfectant. And, boy, was I glad that a photographer was not around to capture the moment.

  Within only about a week of my Patrick Street demon-stration, it was announced that the muzzling law regarding Dex and other search dogs was to be overturned. Search-and-rescue dogs were to be subject to the same exemption as guide dogs, and also were to be exempt from the licence fee. Paying for the licence had never been an issue, and those of us with qualified dogs decided that availing ourselves of this exemption would be to milk the situation entirely, which we had no intention of doing, so we opted to continue to pay the dog-licence fee. I might add that a dog licence should be cheaper for neutered pets as this would encourage owners to act responsibly. The licence should only be issued upon presentation of a vet’s certificate confirming that the dog has been neutered, micro-chipped and vaccinated.

  From what I have seen over the years, the gardaí rarely reproach owners when they don’t have a muzzle on their dogs. Once the dogs are under control, the gardaí seem happy enough. Usually, dogs only pose a threat in public if they are not socialised or trained properly, and unsocialised and unsupervised dogs create most problems.

  But at least Dex was now fully exempt from the muzzling law, and we could concentrate once again on what we were trained and qualified to do – search for missing persons.

  The German Boy Scout

  One summer in the early 1990s, a German Boy Scout was reported missing on a Donegal mountain. Neil Powell got the shout around 4 p.m. while visiting his parents in Cobh. When he called me at work, my heart started racing. From that moment on, everything went into overdrive. I hurried home to Knockraha to collect my gear and Dex. With my heart still thumping, I drove back towards the city to meet up with Neil and Pepper at the Tivoli roundabout. We wanted to get to Cork airport as fast as possible. Neil put on his blue flashing light, which all SARDA members are entitled to have, as we were now facing into heavy, rush-hour traffic.

  As we left the city behind and drove up the airport hill, Neil told me that the missing boy had already spent one night lost on the mountain. Other than that, he knew very little. Always, only the minimum of details are given with the shout. We would have to wait for the briefing to hear the full story.

  At the airport, we were ushered quickly through to the runway, where a government jet was waiting for us. We boarded at 7.40 p.m. The aisles of the plane were covered in plastic to protect them from the dogs’ hairs. Our pilots were Lieutenant Donal O’Shea and Lieutenant Brian Dunne, two kind gentlemen who had prepared food for us to eat on the journey and packed lunches for the search.

  We landed at Finner Camp air strip in Donegal and were then flown by helicopter to the GAA pitch in the village of Carrick. From there, we went by garda car to a remote farmhouse near Slieve League, where we received the official briefing. All information was vital but we were particularly interested to know the age of the boy, his level of fitness and the colour of his clothing. By then, the gardaí had gathered background details of the case. They told us the Germans had been regularly sending plane loads of Boy Scouts to Ireland to carry out soldier-like training. The youngsters came without any money and were expected to scavenge and live off the land, although they were not allowed to kill. Normally, they split into groups of eight to ten, and each troupe chose its own route. On the day before, at 5.30 p.m., one such group had arrived in Glencolumbkille in south-west Donegal. They decided to set off on a horseshoe walk around Slieve League, which they believed would be a safe and easy exercise. The troupe consisted of eight Scouts; their leader was only sixteen years of age.

  During the climb, one of the Scouts – an eleven-year-old boy from Hamburg – complained that he was suffering from stomach cramps and refused to go any further. Leaving some of their gear with him and promising to return for him later, the rest of the group carried on. However, on their descent they failed to locate him, and it was not until 1.30 p.m. the following day that the leader of the group reported to the gardaí in nearby Carrick that the boy was missing. A massive air-and-land search got underway. The Scouts firmly believed they had left the boy in a particular spot near a stream, but having scoured the area, the searchers found no trace of him there.

  Darkness was setting in when we reached Slieve League. Tensions were running high as fears were now growing that the boy had fallen from the cliffs on the opposite side of the mountain. Searchers had come from everywhere – over a hundred volunteers turned up. A garda superintendent was in charge of co-ordinating the various search teams, which included the Killybegs Coast and Cliff Service Unit, the Shannon Marine Rescue Centre and An Garda Síochána. The Air Corps and British Royal Navy came and went, flying searchers to and from the scene.

  The night was dry but freezing cold. Could the eleven-year-old survive a second night on the mountain in sub-zero conditions? Would the Boy Scout skills he had learned back home in Germany help protect him from the elements? Had he stuck with the Scouts’ basic rule of staying put when lost, or had he moved? The youngster’s chances were looking slim, but we approached the situation with a very positive attitude, believing that we would find him alive.

  We double-checked our gear and prepared to begin our search. A local farmer’s teenage son acted as our guide. He showed us the areas already searched, and we combe
d them again. Then we moved on, scouring the rugged, heathery terrain of the most dangerous mountain in south Donegal. By now, Neil and I were the only human searchers left on the mountain. All of the other searchers had been sent home. Eliminating them from the scene would make it easier for the dogs to locate the boy, as their human scent would no longer be present on the mountain. Air-scenting dogs pick up every human scent in a given area, whereas bloodhounds hunt only for the particular scent of the missing person. But there were no bloodhounds available to us. Locating the boy could take hours. There was no time to waste.

  Our dogs ranged up to a half-mile away from us. Every now and then, when the lamps on their collars shone through the heather, we could pinpoint their location. We knew they were working well. Dogs search best in the dark as they work with their noses, not their eyes, and can detect scents a mile away or up to five miles in certain conditions. Air-scenting dogs work almost as well in daylight but can occasionally be distracted by other animals or humans. In the dark, they are totally focused.

  Hours passed without the slightest hint of progress. We were becoming increasingly concerned. The boy had been missing for nearly thirty-six hours. The treacherous cliffs nagged at our minds, reminding us of their thousand-foot drop into the Atlantic Ocean. But we remained optimistic. Searching with the conviction that the missing person will be found alive helps focus the mind, gives that extra drive, that zip and essential sense of urgency.

  At 4.30 a.m. Neil suggested we move over the ridge to the back of the mountain, which was the opposite side to that identified by the Scouts as the location in which they had last seen the youngster. Time was moving fast, and we were aware that the other volunteers would return at first light. If they came back while we were still searching, they would have to wait in the farmyard. Although our dogs are trained to work with multiple handlers at the same time, and will do so ahead of line searchers, there is always a chance that the dogs can be put off by searchers inexperienced in dealing with search dogs. Time-wise, we were under pressure, but we pushed on, determined to find the boy.