Pet & Livestock Search And Rescue (SAR)

Things to try:

  • Call neighbours and locals

  • Posters and Social Media “Missing..”

  • Have you checked perimeter fencing for breaks. This can indicate a direction for focus

  • Visit their favourite routes and spots, including new or recent adventures.

  • Ask neighbours if they have baits/traps active and if they could check them.

  • Have other dogs been in the area they may have gone running with (dingos wild dogs)

  • Is she on heat or is another local dog on heat

  • Have you check hiding spots; sheds, caves, under decks. Thermal cannot see through solid objects

  • Do they have any injuries/ailments that might have caused them to find shelter

  • Are they prone to ticks - may be unable to walk.

  • Do you or your animals have serious tension between neighbours? If so you may never find them

  • Does it have an AirTag, name/number tag

  • Have you tried cooking a bbq to attract them

  • Leave favourite food and bedding out, or post family scented items at different spots/houses - consider the wind direction.

  • Check the roadsides for possible car accident injuries

  • Calmly calling out while walking or drive to points - important to perform a 5-10min SLLS (Stop Look Listen Smell) turn the car off

  • Is it a high value breed and possibly stolen

  • Are you able to check camera footage.

  • Checked for footprints around water points

  • Print paper maps and record what you have covered

  • Check vets, council pound and police (recent cattle rustling activity.)

Personal safety and recovery:

  • How is your mental and physical fitness for the search and recovery - no benefit creating another emergency.

  • Snake bite-proof clothing (gaiters) and bite kit

  • Water for you and pet (drinking bowl)

  • Gloves and pliers if tangled in wire etc

  • Suitable clothing (warm)

  • Head torch (hands free)

  • Binoculars

  • Toilet paper

  • Medication for you (heart and diabetes)

  • Walkie talkie if you split up or simply backup to phone

  • Powerbank recharger

  • Neighbours contact numbers (help or permission)

  • Thermal blanket or blanket 

  • Collar and lead

  • Transport: side-by-side, ute, float

  • Hot-tape temporary fencing (cattle) until transport can be arranged.

  • Treats / hay

  • If you find them but can’t move them, you may need to consider camping out.

  • Bandage, Towel / rag to clean them up - basic casualty care.

How to prepare for a Thermal Drone SAR

  • Identify on Google Earth or paper maps:

    • Prioritise search areas - you know your animals habits 

    • Exclusion zones (unfriendly neighbours, towers, wires, eagles & owls)

    • Property boundaries marked

    • First names on properties

    • Local landmark names (for radio communication referencing:) eg Billys hill, shearers shed, pump dam

  • Notify and request permission to fly over neighbours property - we will need their contact details. Let us know of any difficult ones also!

  • Have recovery gear ready (see above), have a friend ready for support.

  • Have vet info on hand.

  • Charge phones, head torches, walkie-talkies

  • Fuel in vehicles / side-by-side

How long does a Search And Rescue usually takes?

SAR operations are contingent upon a combination of factors: size, vegetation, terrain (creeks/valleys), numbers lost (a mob is more obvious than an individual), weather and budget. While the drone can fly fast and cover a large area quickly, it’s a case of ‘eyeballs’ scanning the screen for hotspots so it has to fly slow, typically 4km/hr (2m/s), this is a brisk walking pace but at a height above ground of 30-50m. This means we can see about a swathe of 70-100m wide. But an overlap is required for the return pass so effectively half that.

There are a number of SAR techniques to cover an area, each have pro’s and con’s. Shrinking circles, lawnmower zigzag, lines of least resistance (follow game trails/tracks). All of these can be sectorised subject to search area size.  As well as directly flying to investigate frequented known points. The last of these is often the first quick and dirty one to try.  

Then there is cost. The largest part of the cost is the ‘mobilisation’. This is the time ($hours) and distance ($vehicle/km) required for us to get organised and to your location - and back. Cost is relative, for a few horses or a mob of cattle with a market value in-excess of $10-40k lost in forest, it is worth searching for a night or so. Two dogs, the bill is split. For a single pet it is a tough call. All animal bills seem expensive, a visit to a Vet for a tick can easily set you back $500, much more if they make a house call on a weekend and some medications. 

I’d like to say a only a couple of hours but I can’t. I can say it is like in the ‘kidnapping’ movies, chances drop quickly by the hours (exposure to nature) or through in-action. The tougher question: When do you give up? You need to have a hard dollar figure where you are comfortable saying “enough, we tried”. This needs to be communicated to us early as it will determine the ‘compromises’ that need to be planned for. And ‘in the moment’ when we still have possible areas left to search that’s a difficult decision.  So if you say the budget is 3hrs, that’s what we will do. Just bear in mind search methods is a ‘Compromise”, coverage vs thoroughness.

As brutal as it is, I hope that helps.

Regards

Troy