Japan has no unified standards on the training of rescue dogs, leading to concerns among the human handlers of these canine heroes that both their speed and efficiency could be hampered when responding to disasters.
The importance of uniform international standards for rescue dogs was never more obvious then in the aftermath of the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, which marks its 13th anniversary this week. Immediately following that disaster, search dogs coming in from other countries were reportedly delayed by Japanese immigration officials over quarantine regulations.
In Japan, breeding and training rescue dogs is done by the National Police Agency and private organizations. Four major organizations have branches in each prefecture and send rescue dogs to disaster areas at the request of local governments.