Members of Ballabeg WI were thrilled to welcome Search and Rescue Dogs Association dog handlers Jim Macgregor with his lurcher Ruby, a trailing dog, and Marc Marshall with his Border collie Matt, a search dog, to their March meeting.

Jim and Marc are volunteers with the association.

We were very impressed by their dedication and commitment.

It takes many long hours to train their dogs.

The close bond between them and their dogs was very evident and good to see.

They train two nights each week and can be called out anytime day or night, by the Police or Civil Defence, to help find a missing person.

It was surprising to hear how often call outs occur.

To the dogs it is a game, it’s amazing how many miles they cover when searching.

The association does not receive any government funding, depending entirely on charity fundraising.

We all very much enjoyed hearing all about this very worthwhile and necessary organisation and loved the antics of the two lovely dogs.

A few days after the meeting, the charity announced that Jim and Ruby had passed their assessments to become a qualified search and rescue dog team.

A charity spokesman said: ’Ruby is the island’s first trailing dog and the pair will be a great asset to the team.’

The pair were assessed by Search and Rescue Dog Association Wales.

Anyone interested in joining the team should contact the charity through Facebook.

Various roles are available including navigators, ’dogsbodies’ used to train the dogs, and fundraisers.