Highly trained dogs take on mission of finding Hawaii fire victims

A year of intense training to discern the difference between human and animal remains is a must for the specialized search dogs deployed to work on Maui following last week’s deadly wildfires.
But it also takes a dog born with the particular personality needed for the job to find remains of the missing and help bring closure for anguished families, said Mary Cablk, an expert in detection and systems at the Desert Research Institute in Nevada, who has trained hundreds of canines, designed training programs for handlers and still goes out on dozens of searches a year with her own dogs.
She said, “Dogs that really want to play, that are obsessive about their toy, that are confident and agile, that are not afraid of loud noises or weird surfaces, bring a lot to the table.”
Cablk is not involved in the Maui recovery operation.
The wildfires that ravaged Maui last week killed at least 101 people, officials say, making it the deadliest U.S. fire in a century.