Frida: The Labrador saving lives in Mexico

Dunya News

The Labrador working as a part of the Mexican Navy's canine unit has assisted in rescuing 52 people from various natural cataclysms. Photo: Reuters

(Web-Desk) – Decked in books, protective goggles and a harness, seven-year-old Labrador named Frida tries to track out survivors in the course of natural calamities.

The golden Labrador working as a part of the Mexican Navy’s canine unit – along with her younger canine coworkers – has assisted in rescuing 52 people from various natural cataclysms.

According to Los Angeles Times, Frida was positioned on Tuesday for saving labours after a potent earthquake collided with central Mexico.

The rescue dog that is just seven years old is considered as part of a 15-member team of canines, which are at work for rescuing people shut in in the wreckage after the fatal earthquake.

A collage of Frida adorned in her uniform and all set to be arrayed was tweeted last week by the Mexico Navy. The tweet read: “She is Frida. The navy is proud that she has managed to save 52 lives in different natural disasters nationally and internationally.”

It got more than 4,000 retweets and nearly 7,000 likes. People called her a symbol of hope, a hero and offered to send her more boots to keep her paws safe.



Frida was dispatched at the Enrique Rebsamen School, where 11 children were salvaged and at least 25 bodies -- 19 children and 6 adults -- were recovered from the school.

The rescuers grouped over the wreckage on Thursday in an uptight search for survivors, two days after Mexico’s most life-threatening earthquake emanated. They were concentrating on 10 slanted buildings, where people may still be alive. The death toll was at least 273, officials said.

The canine, which has now also acquired popularity on social media, was set out two weeks earlier as well when another earthquake hit the state of Oaxaca in Mexico.

She found the body of a police officer in Juchitan, a LA Times report said.


 Rescue dog Frida and her handler work after an earthquake hit Mexico City, Mexico. Photo: Reuters


Frida’s handler Israel Arauz Salinas said she was exhausted after searching the school on Wednesday. Rescue dogs are skilled to bark if they become aware of a survivor.

“The dogs stop suddenly if they find a body,” said Salinas.

“They act afraid... that indicates to us that there is a cadaver.”

The dogs are able to squirm into small spaces that are out-of-the-way to humans.

At the school, Frida wasn’t alone. Younger canine associates, Echo and Evil (both a year and a half) come into collapsed buildings before Frida because of their age.

She spends no more than 20 minutes inside, her handler said.

Service dogs are chosen when they are two months old. They are taught three hours a day to search for people by playing fetch with toys, Salinas explained.

Then the trainer starts running with the toy in hand. “They start associating the smell of the person with the reward of the ball,” he said.

Twitter aficionadas of Frida have been praising her courageousness. Some have shown gratitude towards her for her involvement and aid while others have called for substituting Frida with the image of the well-known Mexican artist Frida Kahlo on the 500-peso note.