Search dog Bramble. Photo: NNPMRT

Rescuers in Northumberland are mourning the death of one of their search dogs, just 10 weeks after she made a lifesaving find on her first operational callout.

Bramble, an English sheepdog, died on her sixth birthday after being diagnosed with acute leukaemia.

Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team said she qualified in January this year and joined the team. A spokesperson said: “She was a true community dog, with her name chosen from over 200 suggestions made by the public on NNPMRT’s Facebook page.

“On 22 May 2024, during her first operational call-out, Bramble found a missing person, bringing a major search involving over 16 different search and rescue teams to a close. Operational search dogs might only find two or three people in their career and what made this find so unique was that Bramble found the person on her very first search.”

The team said her handler was at her side when she died.

Team leader Iain Nixon said: “Bramble was a fantastic search dog and we are all incredibly sad that she has died so suddenly. Search dogs are very much part of our team and her loss is felt by everyone.

“On behalf of the team and especially her handler, Andrew, we’d like to offer our thanks to Ayres Veterinary Hospital in North Shields for doing all they could to help Bramble.”

Handler Andrew Jenkins was with her when she died. Photo: NNPMRT

The team said helping others was a family affair for Bramble. Her sister Dottie is an operational search dog with Edale Mountain Rescue Team and her brother Stan is a therapy dog. Her mum, Shola, and Aunty, Fern, are also both retired search dogs.

“Between them this family of search dogs have found eight missing people.

“An appeal has been launched to support future lifesaving search dogs, following in Bramble’s paw prints.”

A JustGiving page has been set up, with half the funds raised going to Mountain Rescue Search Dogs England, the charity that trains new mountain rescue search dogs and qualifies them to operational status. The other half of the money will be donated to the mountain rescue teams of Northumberland that Bramble worked with – Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team and sister team North of Tyne Mountain Rescue Team. The money will support the costs of their search dogs, such as veterinary care and associated insurance; dog related PPE, equipment, and consumables; and lifesaving equipment issued to the dog handler.

At the time of writing, the goal of £1,000 had already been surpassed.

The national park team spokesperson added: “One search dog team is able to cover ground and clear search areas that would otherwise need around 20 fully trained human searchers without dogs.

“They can also smell what humans cannot see, and therefore they really come into their own in adverse weather conditions and at night, the conditions that rescuers often face during a search when it is imperative to find missing people quickly.”