Probus hears about search dogs working hard

AFTER another jam-packed month of social activities and events, members of Hawks Nest and District Probus Club heard from the Search Dogs Sydney – Missing Persons Unit at their 6 November meeting.

Guest speaker Chris D’Arcy was joined by fellow volunteer search dog handler Adele Jago, and Koa, a three-year-old staffy-cross, who came up from Rossmore, their training base near the new Western Sydney Airport.

Search Dogs Sydney was established in January 2016. A self-funded, not-for-profit registered charity, it remains the only non-government organisation undertaking canine-assisted search operations in NSW.

Comprising 25 human volunteers and eight dogs, it runs searches around NSW. But it is set for growth and rebranding under a state-wide moniker in the wake of the current and ongoing NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into unsolved murders and long-term missing persons cases in New South Wales between 1965 and 2010.

“More than 10,000 people were reported missing in NSW last year, worse than our road toll, with 948 long-term missing in NSW, and up to 2800 families affected directly,” Chris D’Arcy said.

“Many are found deceased because they could not be found in time, usually due to lack of police resources, or the system slowing things down.”

One case described happened in Western Sydney, wherein a dementia patient who had gone missing happened to cross the road that was the boundary between two large police districts. Orders had to go up and down the chains of command, causing significant delays in getting a search under way.

“Finding 10,000 people stretches resources, and there have been cases where the police haven’t even started searches due to resource issues,” Mr D’Arcy said.

Search Dogs Sydney (SDS) has helped solve some very cold cases, including one that began 55 years ago. In 2025, its dogs located the human remains of a lost girl after being tasked to a location that had been discounted by authorities.

SDS dogs are all rescues, as there’s no money for a specific ‘breeding program’.

Boof tore up his former owner’s motorcycle when he was locked inside all day and made himself ownerless. SDS trained him for outdoor work.

“Police dogs are trained to apprehend you,” Mr D’Arcy said.

“Rescue dogs will slobber all over you. It’s a game they play for a reward.

“The dogs are typically released into a search area to simply follow their noses, with a GPS tracker on their harness sending back their precise location.

“They can pick up the scent of humans from the surface of water bodies, much like the hair, lint and oils that float and leave a ring around your bath.”

The dogs’ training includes Urban Search and Rescue (USAR), Human Remains, LandSearch, ‘air scent area search’.

SDS also uses thermal-imaging drones with laser range-finding for night searches, because that is the most dangerous time to search. The drones cost $55/hour to run, much cheaper and more efficient than a police helicopter, and much less disruptive.

He recommends a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) for anyone who goes bush. It makes a great present and for $300 the battery will last eight years, sending out a precise GPS location if you get lost.

“It’s cheap insurance if you look at it that way,” Mr D’Arcy said.

The largest problem to operations has been the bureaucratic turf wars that occur when jurisdictional lines are crossed, and the fact that SDS is not currently a government organisation.

“Please advocate to your local State MP, donate, fundraise, spread the word, because we need to get our loved ones home without turf wars,” he added.

“We have been trying to meet with the NSW Police Minister for four or five years, seeking NSW State Government funding, because we will look for ‘anyone, anywhere, anytime’.”

By Thomas O’KEEFE