CANIS is dedicated to the training and world-wide deployment of air-scenting dogs to search for live human casualties in natural and man-made disasters.

In the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, CANIS offers assistance to the Emergency Services, who require air-scenting dogs for land-based incidents other than Mountain Rescue. The latter are left to the Search and Rescue Dog Association (SARDA).

Our services include working in urban areas, coastal areas and on canal and river banks. We also have dogs specially trained to search for cadavers, which are actually immersed in canals, rivers and open water.

Our dogs are trained in basic obedience, environmental, agility and search training. Search training initially starts with the use of toys and later with people. The dogs are required to work on a variety of ground conditions and also to develop the techniques necessary for searching buildings.

Following the last change of Government, the Overseas Development Agency (ODA) was replaced by the Department for International Development (DFID). The latter has taken a more pro-active role in co-ordinating a British emergency search and rescue response to overseas disasters and reaction times have improved significantly over even the past year/eighteen months.