Drone-using lost dog hunters are on the search for local volunteers

Drone SAR for Lost Dogs UK is a group of volunteers across the country who use the power of social media to retrieve lost pets. With a group of 62,700 willing helpers, the search for missing dogs doesn’t ask for money but instead runs off the love for the animals and understanding of the sadness a loss can bring.

The team of dog-loving volunteers claim they have retrieved and reunited over 2,750 missing dogs already.

However, the already sizable group wants to grow as they are looking to recruit volunteers within the Lancashire region. With 3,000 registered drone pilots, 2,500 registered ground searchers, the team want to expand.

Particuarly across the north-west region, volunteers to return pets back to their owners are needed as an urgent plea is issued from the group.

To join, volunteers are asked to search ‘Drone SAR For Lost Dogs UK’ where they can get involved in the hunt to get the pet home.

Drone SAR for Lost Dogs UK was set up by founder, Graham Burton in 2017.

The Drone SAR UK website says: ‘When a lost dog is submitted the to the group, the admin team work with the owner to understand the circumstances in which the dog went missing. They provide initial advice, including scenting advice, emergency numbers and local contacts that need to be aware.

‘Drone SAR for Lost Dogs UK rely on volunteer pilots, who give up their time to assist in searches. There are currently over 800 volunteer pilots across the UK and NI. The admin team reference the pilot map to identify pilots in the area of the lost dog. The pilots are then tagged into the owners post on the main group page. They then make contact with the owners, to discuss updates and plan a flight search area. The pilots consist of hobby and PfCO approved pilots. They use apps such as NATS (National Air Traffic Services) to survey the flight area, contact ATC if needed, to be approved to fly in restricted areas. Ensuring that the Drone Code is followed at all times.

‘The pilots go above and beyond, if they are unable to fly due to airspace restrictions or weather, they will assist in a ground search. Some of the pilots have even camped out, in remote areas to carry out dusk and dawn searches.

‘In addition to the pilots, we also rely on a team of over 1,000 volunteer ground searchers. As well as being out on the ground searching, they also assist with a variety of search and rescue aspects, from social media sharing, putting up posters to using their local knowledge to assist owners and inform relevant people.

‘We believe in team work and also work with other teams, such as specialist trapping teams, who all work together with the dogs best interests at the heart of what we do.’