Today, Terra Di Mezzo (TDM) 2000 Malta launched The TDM Hands (and Paws) On. This initiative is intended to aid and support a local institution.
In previous years, they have helped raise awareness and collect funds for equipment of facilities. Just last year they managed to collect €10,000 for The Hospice Movement, Angela House and Dar San Guzepp.
This year they will be tackling another local institution that is SOS Malta, K9 Unit, Search and Rescue in the hope of supporting training of the Rescue Dogs and buying equipment for rescue.
The President of the organization, Mr Duncan Muscat, explained briefly the idea, which is to meet with the volunteers who are very dedicated in training the dogs.
Also, Matthew Thomas Carbonaro gave an idea about this campaign, which promotes the principles of the Rescue team’s work.
Volunteers from the canine unit were present and also puppies, which are beginning the training process at the moment. One of the volunteers explained in great detail what training is used and how this training is taught to these dogs.
The puppies present were only of 5 months of age yet, they have already begun the process of positive training. This training helps the dogs associate an object and its permanence. Later on, they become aware of this object and learn to associate with it items such as a human beings belongings.
As explained, this is not an easy process; in fact, it takes 3 years to train the dogs and 3 years for the handler as well. They are capable to do so since their olfactory sense is much better than that of humans and also that they have a much more stable balance than that of us humans.
A case mentioned by the volunteer involved a situation where a man went missing in a hotel and the dog was given a possession of the missing man to sniff. After this, the dog began to create a trail in aid for the police to search
Hon. Chris Agius who is the Parliamentary Secretary for Research, Innovation, Youth and Sport was present and mentioned how important voluntary work is even more in today’s society.
It is important for youths to lead on into this kind of optional work. Not only does it help us enhance our knowledge but also creates awareness in many sectors of voluntary help.
