When the ground stopped shaking in Venezuela, one of the first responders drawing attention had four legs.
Tsunami, a black-and-white border collie with one blue eye and one brown eye, helped find survivors after the June 24 earthquakes and quickly became a symbol of hope amid widespread loss.
The Christian Science Monitor reported that Tsunami is among the small number of trained search-and-rescue dogs in Venezuela. He was deployed within minutes of the 7.2 and 7.5 quakes.
Tsunami and his handler, Jorge Beens, went to work even though their own apartment had been damaged. Beens directs a canine disaster-response team in Caracas.
Beens said Tsunami “started finding lives within 40 minutes of the quake,” and the dog has so far led rescuers to at least 26 survivors.
The disaster has killed nearly 4,500 people.
Beens adopted Tsunami from abusive conditions in Caracas nine years ago. He soon recognized traits he considered well suited to rescue work, confidence, playfulness and a desire to please.
Since then, Tsunami has been part of efforts that saved more than 350 lives in landslides, floods, gas explosions, structural collapses, and the 2023 earthquake response in Turkey and Syria.
Beens trains Tsunami through play. A person hides in debris with the dog’s favorite toy, and Tsunami is rewarded after finding them and barking.
In disaster zones, that bark helps human rescuers identify where to search.
Tsunami’s role also stretched beyond rescue operations. Venezuelans shared photos of the dog and painted murals of him during the aftermath of the quakes.
One commenter on a social media post about a mural wrote: “There was a tsunami alert, but it was the warning of a dog who would come to save many lives , and behind him, a sea of volunteers from Venezuela and beyond.”
With the window for finding survivors now closed, Tsunami is stepping back from active rescue work.
He is expected to visit schools and communities around Venezuela with support from Perros Extremos, a dog-training organization that backed him during the emergency.
Donato Spinelli, co-director of Perros Extremos, told the Monitor he believes the international attention on Tsunami could become a lesson in preparedness.
Spinelli said, “Dogs can make a difference when every minute matters.”
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