The National Search And Rescue Dog Association
Maple Barn, Canterbury Road, Molash, Kent CT4 8HF
The NSARDA Story
Find out how NSARDA came to be – click on the icons around the circle from left to right…
Mountain Search Dogs, in the form of the Search And Rescue Dog Associations (SARDA) lead the way in the use of Search Dogs to locate injured and lost mountaineers.
The first groups being set up in the mid sixties.
While there have been many handlers and trainers who have been instrumental in lifting the standard to what we know of today, it is impossible to name a single handler apart from Hamish MacInnes who first brought the air scenting search dog from Switzerland.
He set up a training course in Glen Coe and the first modern air scenting Search Dogs appeared.
From this first course the associations of Scotland, Wales and England were formed.
After the Lockerbie Incident it was found that with a little extra effort the dogs would indicate in the rural and urban setting, and the use of dogs in many other fields of search work expanded thereafter.
The National Search And Rescue Dog Association (NSARDA) was formed from these SARDA Associations and the use of search dogs spread.
Today we have Search Dogs not only playing a vital role in the search for lost and injured people in the mountains as well as in rural, urban and lowland areas within the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Ireland.
A great deal of thanks is due to the open mindedness of handlers to see that with a high standard of training for both dogs and handlers.
A correctly trained and qualified search dog can help reduce the time to search for, locate and return loved ones back home.
In 2025 we will be celebrating 60 Years of Search Dogs
We celebrated 50 Years of NSARDA Search Dogs in 2015
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