When devastating earthquakes struck Venezuela in June 2026, one of the country’s most celebrated rescuers walked on four legs.
Tsunami, an 8-year-old Border Collie with Venezuela’s K-SAR ECID disaster canine unit, became a symbol of hope after helping search-and-rescue teams locate survivors trapped beneath collapsed buildings during the response to the deadly earthquakes. Working alongside his handler, Jorge Beens, the rescue dog played a key role in locating people buried beneath the rubble, including a 60-year-old man rescued from a collapsed apartment building in Caracas.
According to K-SAR ECID, the June 2026 earthquake response marked Tsunami’s final official mission before retirement. The organization said the Border Collie “retires at the top of his game, proving his courage and giving everything in the field.”
Tsunami’s story began far from the front lines of disaster response.
As a puppy, he was found abandoned on the streets of Caracas, suffering from malnutrition and abuse before being rescued by Anita Vidal. His intelligence, agility, and energy eventually caught the attention of rescue specialist Jorge Beens, who brought him into the K-SAR ECID Disaster Canine Training Center, where he underwent years of specialized training to locate victims trapped beneath collapsed structures.
His career extended well beyond Venezuela. Before returning home for the June earthquake response, Tsunami participated in international search-and-rescue operations following the 2023 earthquakes in Turkey and Syria and supported numerous flood and landslide missions across Venezuela.
One of his most notable rescues came in Caracas’ San Bernardino district, where he repeatedly alerted rescuers to signs of life beneath the remains of a collapsed eight-story building. Search crews halted operations to establish silence before carefully excavating the location identified by the dog, ultimately rescuing a man who had been trapped beneath the debris for approximately six hours. Video of the rescue circulated widely, highlighting the coordination between canine teams and emergency responders.
Following days of continuous operations, Tsunami received veterinary care for physical exhaustion before being cleared to return home to complete his recovery.
According to Venezuela’s government, the rescue dog ultimately helped save 25 people from buildings that collapsed during the June earthquakes.
Tsunami’s retirement at the end of the Venezuelan rescue effort brings to a close a career that took him from an abandoned puppy on the streets of Caracas to one of Venezuela’s best-known disaster response dogs, working alongside local and international search teams in some of the world’s most challenging rescue environments.
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