Slovak Search and Rescue Dog Teams Prepare for World Championships as Forest Safety Concerns Rise

Barbora Buriková has trained her 11-year-old German Shepherd Cira for the upcoming world championships in Slovenia, where four Slovak women will compete in search and rescue dog competitions. As a volunteer search and rescue dog handler, Buriková specializes in locating missing persons in Slovakia's forests. Search and rescue dogs are most commonly deployed in Slovakia to find people lost in wooded areas, which represents the majority of their operations. The work highlights growing safety concerns for hikers and mushroom pickers, as routine forest activities can quickly turn dangerous when people become disoriented or lost in unfamiliar terrain.