Water Search Dogs or Submerged Body Detection Dogs
The training of Cadaver detection dogs to search for submerged human remains is relatively new to the UK. However with natural disasters, such as the Upton Floods in 2007, their usage is becoming more prevalent. In 1996 I was awarded a Home Office Research Award to study the training and use of Submerged Body detection dogs and since that time I have trained over 20 dogs.
Combined with highly qualified water search personnel these dogs are able to search large areas of water, both lakes and rivers, and are able to perform a search in approximately 10% of the time of other recognised search techniques.
Whilst the cost of training Submerged Body detection dogs may be prohibitive to some police forces, these are dogs are available 24/7 on request from a number of organisations.
Below is a video taken in Malaysia of a Water Search team in training.