Frida The Legendary Rescue Dog That Has Saved A Dozen People Goes To Work In Mexico City

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Frida The Legendary Rescue Dog That Has Saved A Dozen People Goes To Work In Mexico City

As rescuers scramble to save children trapped inside a collapsed school, one of the Mexican navy's elite search and rescue teams suit up.

Frida, with her teammates Evil and Echo.@PueAPrimeraHora / Twitter

They put on their tactical vests, their special footwear and protective goggles, and climb onto the rubble in search of people trapped underneath the building. They look cute, but this team of dogs are the best in the business when it comes to finding people after natural disasters.

After Mexico was hit by a 7.1 earthquake on Tuesday, more than 250 people were killed and many more were trapped in the dozens of buildings that collapsed. In Mexico City, the remains of the Enrique Rebsamen school became the site of a major rescue operation.

Frida, a seven-year-old Labrador who is one of the 15 dogs searching the ruins, became an unlikely hero of the crisis after Mexico's navy shared photos of her on Twitter, along with details about her impressive career.

Trained as a search and rescue dog since she was just 2 months old, Frida has rescued 12 people and found 40 bodies following natural disasters across Mexico. She has even worked in neighboring countries like Ecuador.

But searching through the collapsed school is proving to be one of the toughest challenges in Frida's career...

Frida has been searching the rubble nonstop since Tuesday, just two weeks after she worked at the site of another earthquake further south.

Her trainer Israel Salinas admits that Frida is exhausted by the grueling schedule, but says that after she's had a rest, some water and a snack, she's always ready to get back to work again. Frida works in short 20 minute bursts, and lets her younger teammates Echo and Evil, a pair of Belgian Malinois, identify where she's needed the most.

When they pick up an important smell - either a trapped person or a dead body - Frida takes their place, climbing onto the rubble and crawling through debris. Sometimes she digs into holes less than 20 inches high to look for survivors.

By Thursday, all of the children in the school have been accounted for. But there's no rest for Frida and her team, who will probably be moved to a new site where their work continues.

Fans have been showing their support for Frida's hard work by offering to send the navy more boots for her. They've also been making funny photos like this one, which shows Frida on the country's 500-peso bill.

Share this incredible dog's story with someone you know!

[H/T: LA Times]

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