I’ve Got a Live One!!

Police officer Andy Inglis is a victim detection specialist. Max, his Cocker Spaniel, is trained to find missing people; sadly, by the time Max is called in, the victim has usually been missing for a long period of time, usually weeks, because his particular speciality is finding bodies. The technical term is Victim Recovery Dog (VRD) or Human Remains Discovery Dog (HRDD), also commonly referred to as a cadaver dog. This is not the most glamorous job in the world, and it is sometimes a pleasant experience for Andy, finding those who are deceased and have been for a period of time, but it is essential for the families of lost people; they need to know what happened to their loved ones. This is the motivation for Andy, and as he says…

“I don’t want a dog walker to find someone this way.”

Andy and Max are stationed in Scotland, a place of scenic beauty, hills and mountains to climb, a paradise for walkers and nature lovers. It is, however, also an unforgiving place when things go wrong. Every year people go missing and sadly are never found. Police officers and mountain rescue teams will all tell you tales of weeks spent looking for a missing individual.

Sometimes it’s an unfortunate accident; sometimes it’s a lack of preparation, particularly inadequate clothing, poor quality footwear, no map or compass, plus either no mobile phone, insufficient charge or no understanding that in places there is no signal. So many have no understanding of the perils of this hostile land; even experienced walkers and climbers get into trouble. One of the biggest challenges comes from the rather simple and obvious issue that so many don’t tell anyone what they have in mind, so for the rescue teams they don’t even know where to start and have no idea where to look. Sometimes the only clue is a parked car, if the searchers are lucky, but it still doesn’t give any idea of the direction the missing individual has taken.

Regardless of the reasons for those missing for nearly two weeks, the outlook is grim.

The search begins

In March 2025, a search was launched for a vulnerable man who went missing in a 5 square mile area of dense forest close to Dunkeld. This is a place where you could easily pass the person you are searching for and miss them; they could be a metre away, but with the dense vegetation, a visual sighting can be almost impossible. Using a tracker dog is no good without a fresh scent to offer the dog, and a dog that air scents can only find the person if they pass downwind.

After nearly two weeks of fruitless searching, the authorities called in Andy Inglis and Max. It was to be a brutal five-day search. To follow a search dog, the handler needs to be supremely fit. Where the dog goes, the handler goes, crawling through undergrowth, sliding down slopes, navigating fallen trees, impenetrable brambles and crossing streams.

Five brutal days

After 5 days, the duo had covered some 30 kilometres of some of the worst terrain that it was possible to pass through. Finally, Max suddenly ran down an embankment; his whole body language changed; there was something down there at the bottom. Despite not being trained to find a live body, there, partially hidden by a fallen tree and covered by a tarpaulin, was the missing individual. He had been missing for 17 days; he was in a very poor condition, having not eaten or drunk water for several days. He was weak, struggling to walk and extremely dehydrated. Andy alerted his colleagues, and between them they carried the fellow for 90 minutes back to where he could be taken to hospital.

As Andy says, the nature of my job is that I expect to find someone deceased, so when I find someone alive it is a different emotion

Max, meanwhile, trotted in front, carrying his precious ball, totally oblivious to the fact that he was responsible for saving a human life. A bit of a change for our intrepid cocker spaniel; this time he had found a live one.

It has been reported that the missing gentleman has made a complete recovery.

Recognition at Crufts

At Crufts dog show this year, Max and Andy Inglis were presented with The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) Police Dog Action of the Year Award.

For those who want more information about Victim Recovery Dogs (VRD), see BUSTER 

Anyone who is planning a trek, mountaineering or just a gentle walk in Scotland can obtain advice from the website: www.scottishmountainrescue.org