Cape Town - When police officer Brigadier Vimla Moodley received her call to be dispatched to Türkiye she did not hesitate, knowing she had the best team on her side – five canines and their handlers.
Moodley and her team were flung into the reality of the devastation left behind by two earthquakes that struck parts of Syria and Türkiye earlier this month.
Moodley spent nearly nine days in Türkiye with her team: Warrant Officer Tinalia Gouws, Warrant Officer Martin Bann, Warrant Officer Keagan Naidoo, Warrant Officer Len Willemse and Sergeant Jennifer Seleka.
The group of dogs included one German shepherd and five Belgian Malinois named Donna, Optimis, Aida, Rio and Jaro.
“It was extremely sad. What you see on television is nothing like what we have seen and experienced; it’s sort of a post-apocalyptic movie. People sitting outside a demolished home with nothing or just little they could salvage with the temperatures at minus degrees.”
Moodley and her team were part of the 60-strong group, along with the Gift of the Givers, who volunteered their services to help when Türkiye made an international plea.
The devastation has left more than 21 000 dead and thousands wounded while hundreds continue to search for their loved ones in the rubble.
Moodley said she and her team did their best to help find survivors and retrieve bodies.
“I was really honoured to be selected to lead the group although I knew the dynamics of the disaster and dangers that could lie ahead.”
She said buildings had collapsed on top of each other like pancakes, and the dogs were used to look for bodies or those trapped in the rubble.
Eight days after the earthquakes, Moodley said the dogs managed to rescue an elderly woman.
“The teams were split into two teams, two dogs with the Omani team and other dogs with the Turkish team. The team went out with the Omani team and searched a large building that collapsed. The dogs Optimus and Donna confirmed that there was a body or possible live person.
“The Gift of the Givers rescue team together with the Omani team started the process to excavate and they found the 80-year-old lady alive, which was amazing especially at that age. It was an incredible success for us as the main aim was to save lives.”
Moodley said the success also came with sadness and they also found themselves comforting families.
“Unfortunately, we assisted in locating many dead bodies, actually countless as the dogs would search and indicate and it will be marked and they go to the next building. We assisted in giving closure to families.”
Moodley said each dog had their own strengths and personality, which made them unique.
“Optimus is a large dog that works systematically and indicates by pointing out the area and also lifting his head up in the direction of the scent. Donna is a young Belgian shepherd that is extremely active and lively. She works amazingly differently from others. The search is more like a reward for her as she also works systematically but gets extremely excited and starts climbing into crevices and digging in the area where the scent is. She would end a search with a white face full of dust.”
National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said: “We are happy to hear that our role yielded significant results and we were able to provide closure to the people of Türkiye.”
Founder and chairperson of Gift of the Givers, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, said their teams had shown incredible humanity.
Sooliman said the teams were expected to reach South Africa today (Saturday).
“It was a very emotional time for the teams. Wherever they went people call them and say please search here and dig here with longing in their eyes and hope and pain in their eyes.
“It is easy to understand. If your child is missing, or your parent, or your family member, you will do anything to search and find them alive or deceased. And this was the case in many areas. Unfortunately, there were many areas that the search teams did not reach because the city was too big and the destruction was too huge.”