A heroic rescue dog who travelled to some of the world’s worst disaster zones and saved an estimated 53 lives has been diagnosed with a tumour after going into retirement.
Frida specialised in helping to save the lives of people buried under the rubble of collapsed buildings in earthquakes and other disasters in a career spanning almost a decade.
The disaster zones where she helped include the Haiti earthquake in 2010, a landslide in Guatemala in 2012, the explosion of the Torre Ejecutiva Pemex (Pemex Tower) in Mexico City in 2013, the Ecuador earthquake in 2016 and the Puebla earthquake in Mexico in 2017.
The Mexican Secretariat of the Navy (SEMAR) announced that the retired rescue pooch is in a delicate state of health, but not yet critical, and she will undergo treatment, via which it is hoped she will make a full recovery.
Frida, a sniffer dog for the Collapsed Structures Unit of SEMAR’s Urban Search and Rescue team, became a symbol of hope during the 2017 Puebla earthquake, which caused devastation in the Mexican states of Puebla and Morelos and in the Greater Mexico City area, killing 370 people.
During her time with SEMAR, the rescue dog has found at least 53 people.
Frida was part of a team of 270 trained dogs that searched for people in disaster situations and found fame in Mexico City during the 2017 earthquake.
The dog has been living at SEMAR’s Canine Unit since retiring from her life-saving duties, although she was helping to train other dogs.
The tumour was first detected several weeks ago. However, her condition is now worsening, and vets will carry out an emergency op.
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Story By: Lee Bullen, Sub-Editor: William McGee,  Agency: Newsflash
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