Search and rescue dogs to benefit from Rural Awards

The Scottish Rural Awards are delighted to announce their 2019 charity partner – Search & Rescue Dog Association Scotland (SARDA Scotland).

SARDA Scotland is a national charity who train dogs and their handlers to search for missing persons, they’re an entirely volunteer-based organisation and cover all of Scotland, 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.

Their search dogs are used by the police, coastguard, and mountain rescue teams to help locate missing people whether they are lost or injured in the mountains or low ground and urban areas.

SARDA Scotland’s handlers are experienced mountain rescuers trained in casualty care. On average, over the past three years, SARDA Scotland has had 67 call outs each year averaging at just over one per week.

They depend on the generosity of the public for part of their funding and the specialist equipment and ongoing costs of training a dog and handler are expensive.

At the awards evening on 21 March, the Scottish Rural Awards aim to raise £5000, the approximate amount to train a dog and handler with Search & Rescue Dog Association Scotland.

The Scottish Rural Awards will be holding their whisky faffle throughout the meal on the awards night.

Guests will be encouraged to donate what they can into a small envelope found at their table place. From there each table will have their names put into a hat and one person on each table will win a bottle of Tomintoul 12yo Single Malt whisky.

Any donation, however small, made to SARDA goes directly towards training and equipment.

To find out more about Search & Rescue Dog Association Scotland go to www.sarda-scotland.org or find SARDA on Facebook @SearchRescueDogAssociationScotland.