Beau the search dog
A missing man was located on Mother’s Day (6 March) by Search Dog Beau from the Buckinghamshire Lowland Search Dogs Team. The missing man, Mark Proctor, aged 55, went missing from his home in Wallingford on Tuesday 23rd February. He was found by specialist volunteer dog handler Gaz Elliott and four year old Springer Spaniel Beau.
The man was then transported to hospital by air ambulance after a major search over the last three days involving numerous Lowland Rescue teams.
Like all Lowland Rescue Search dogs, Beau is a pet, trained by his owners over the course of several years to national assessment standards.
Gaz Elliott recently left Initial Force Protection Training (IFPT) at RAF Halton. Ironically, on the day before he was due to start a new job at the Military Search School in Bicester, his dog Beau found Mr Proctor while out on a search. Gaz said: “Seeing a missing person re-united with their family and friends, safe and well, is why we volunteer our time.”
Gaz and wife Ali, have had Beau for four years and have trained him themselves to Association of Lowland Search and Rescue (ALSAR) national standards. Beau is a Level 2 (Route and Path) Airscenting dog. Out of a total of 50 Lowland Search dogs in the UK, eight of them are part of the K9 search team in Buckinghamshire. Ali was keen to point out that: “Beau’s usual reward for a ‘find’ is wet catfood; however, on this occasion, in the heat of the moment Gaz forgot to reward him. I bought him an 8oz steak as reward for his efforts. It’s costing me a fortune!”
The Lowland Search and Rescue Team would like to say a huge thank you to all of their supporters and donors who keep their team delivering life-saving results like this.
For more information research below:
Search Dogs Buckinghamshire
Lowland Rescue
Oxfordshire Lowland Search and Rescue
Berkshire Lowland Search & Rescue - BLSAR
Bucks Search & Rescue
Berkshire Search & Rescue Dogs