Eight members of the Berks Search and Rescue Dog team and their dogs visited CSJ after completing the ‘3 Peak Challenge’.
The challenge took place over three of the UK’s largest mountains - Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon and meant a five-day break from their search volunteer work in an effort to raise funds for the charity.
In a twist to the usual 3 Peak Challenge the team also met and trained with their Mountain Rescue counterparts on each of the three peaks.
On the peaks the team walked 50km, climbed 11,000ft and drove over a 1,000 miles in between before arriving at CSJ’s headquarters in Denbighshire.
CSJ are always happy to meet with Berkshire SAR team members and their canines, having been sponsors of the charity for some years by supplying them with dog food.
This time Philip Eichmann gave CSJ’s owners Ceri and Phil Rundle a graphic account of their challenge including commenting that they’d had an “Awful descent from Ben Nevis!”
Berkshire Search and Rescue Dogs is a volunteer dog organisation on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to assist search and rescue teams, the police and other emergency services.
Their primary role is to assist in locating lost or missing people within Berkshire and its surrounding areas.
Berkshire SAR Dogs was formed in 2002 and became a registered charity in the UK in March 2004. It is entirely reliant on sponsorship and donations to exist and carry out its work.
The team is made up entirely of volunteers who (together with their dogs) undergo constant training and must meet rigorous standards in order to obtain operational status. Most of the dog handlers and support staff fit this in around full time jobs.
Berkshire SAR Dogs currently has approximately 43 human and 42 K9 volunteers as full time members of the team – 11 of their dogs are operational search dogs. Whilst the majority of their dogs are working breeds, all types of dog breeds are considered on their merits and must pass an initial evaluation before being accepted into the team for training.
There’s even more about Berkshire SAR Dogs at www.k9-sar.com and about CSJ’s ranges of all natural feeds and herbs at www.csjk9.com
