In Colombia, the rescue of four children lost in the jungle for 40 days was a relief. However, now the objective is to find Wilson safe and sound, one of those who collaborated with that mission baptized as “Operation Hope” – which had the South American country in suspense. Dozens of soldiers and two dogs in heat are looking for him to awaken his “hunting instinct”
Two weeks ago, the dog Wilson -elevated in the country to the status of a national hero for his role in the operation- escaped from his guide’s leash to enter the abundant vegetation with the mission of finding the four boys who survived the accident. of plane. The children appeared, but the whereabouts of the dog are unknown.
The security forces of the government of Gustavo Petro sent 70 soldiers to the same destination to locate the four-legged rescuer, but for support, they turned to two dogs in heat. The desperate search, which worries the Caribbean country, involves attracting the attention of the male Belgian Malinois shepherd in the vastness of the jungle of the department of Caquetá, in the south of the country.
His trainers in Bogotá hope that he is using “his hunting instincts” to survive.
“He is a very strong dog, very well trained, we are confident that he is still alive,” soldier Elvis Porras, a canine instructor at the School of Military Engineers, where Wilson was trained, told the AFP agency.
Porras hopes that this six-year-old Belgian shepherd is “awakening his hunting instinct to survive” since, after all, he is “a direct descendant of the wolf.”
To recover it, they inserted “two little dogs in heat” into the jungle. “Wilson is neutered, however, we hope that his instincts will activate and he will go towards the dogs,” explained General Pedro Sánchez, who commanded the rescue operation for the minors and now hopes to do the same for the dog.
The indigenous people Lesly (13 years old), Soleiny, (9) Tien Noriel (5) and Cristin (1) wandered for 40 days through the same jungle before being found last Friday.
During his recovery at the Military Hospital in Bogotá, the older sisters drew a picture in which a dog is seen in the middle of trees, next to a river and has the name Wilson written in black.
Before getting lost, the dog “guided the troop to key points for tracking and deciphering the path the children were taking,” said Edgar Fontecha, another canine instructor at the school.
The military and relatives of the Indians suspect that Wilson was the first member of the search team to have contact with the brothers.
The Belgian shepherd was trained at the School of Military Engineers with constant descents, tied to a harness from important heights. Thus he began his journey in the jungle.
Wilson, the strongest of the “Litter W” – so called because all the puppies were baptized with names that start with that letter – trained for 14 months at that school located in the southeast of the capital.
“It was the dog we were looking for: strong, not afraid, very curious,” they recall from that institution.
Nearly 60 canines are trained to detect explosives or drugs, carry out rescues under collapsed buildings or track people on humanitarian missions.
These types of dogs are trained in pairs, where they are assigned a single military “guide” who accompanies them throughout their lives in different operations. Cristian David Lara, Wilson’s duo, remains in the jungle to try to find him.
According to Fontecha, “it is said that the dog broke the rope” that tied him to Lara and “started to do his thing, to follow the trail” of the minors until he was lost.
Suddenly “the desire to hit, to find, to seek his objective” played a trick on him, Porras speculates. On his side, General Sánchez says that “it is not usual” to see this behavior in military dogs.
The uniformed men trust that -just like the children- Wilson will avoid snakes, pumas, jaguars and other predators that roam the area. “Sadness invades me. Knowing that he is a son of the house and that he is the only one who could not leave the area after such a good result,” laments soldier Porras.
