Photos: Philippines trains pet dogs for search and rescue

Manila: With her owner holding her leash, Philippine pooch Hazel sniffs through rubble in a simulated search for survivors of a major earthquake in Manila.

Hazel is participating in a programme training pet dogs and their owners in search and rescue so they can be deployed in the aftermath of a disaster.

Every Sunday, volunteer trainers put around 46 mongrels and purebreds of all sizes through their paces at a facility in suburban Manila where they learn to find people, scale ladders, and bound over wooden structures.

When disasters strike the archipelago nation, Philippine disaster agencies have already deployed search and rescue dogs.

However, there are concerns that there might not be enough of them if a major earthquake were to hit the sprawling metropolis of Manila.

Manila is vulnerable to quakes due to its location on the West Valley Fault and its proximity to the Manila Trench off the main island of Luzon.

A handler patting her dog. Seismologists believe the movement of either one could trigger a major earthquake in the city of more than 13 million people that could kill tens of thousands.

The MMDA K-9 Corps volunteer group has trained around 700 pet dogs since the programme began in 2016.

It aims to train at least 3,400 pet dogs in search and rescue across the city.

Dogs must complete at least 12 training sessions before being deployed in real-life disaster response operations.