Paw patrol: Manila trains pet dogs for major quake response

MANILA - With her owner holding her leash, Philippine pooch Hazel sniffs through rubble in a simulated search for survivors of a major earthquake in the capital Manila.

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Hazel is taking part in a programme training pet dogs and their owners in search and rescue, so they can be deployed in the aftermath of a disaster.

Every Sunday, 46 mongrels and purebreds of all sizes are put through their paces by volunteer trainers at a facility in Manila, where they learn to find people, scale ladders and bound over wooden structures.

Philippine disaster agencies already have search-and-rescue dogs that are deployed when disasters strike. But there are concerns that there might not be enough of them if a major earthquake hits the sprawling metropolis of Manila.

Hazel, who was a skinny street mutt before she was adopted by her owner, Ms Nathalia Chua, lacks the pedigree of some of her classmates.