
Mancs
Born in 1994, Mancs (whose name means “Paw,” in Hungarian) was a German Shepherd and a member of the renowned Spider Special Rescue Team of Miskolc, Hungary, a team that traveled the globe doing search-and-rescue work.
As a member of the squad, Mancs was incredibly gifted at locating earthquake survivors who lay trapped deep beneath the rubble and alerting rescuers. He could locate where people were buried under the earthquake rubble—and not only could Mancs determine if the person was dead or alive, but he could also indicate this to the other members of the rescue crew. If he sensed a dead person, he laid down; when he sensed a live person beneath the rubble, he stood up, wagged his tail and barked.
Alongside his owner László Lehóczki, Mancs helped in several high-profile earthquake rescue missions, including the 2001 earthquakes in El Salvador and India. His most famous case was when he helped rescue a 3-year-old girl who spent 82 hours under the ruins after the 1999 Izmit earthquake in Turkey.
Mancs died of pneumonia in 2006. In 2015, Mancs was honored posthumously with his team with the European Citizen's Prize for their many years of life-saving efforts. Attending the ceremony as the guest of honor was Hatira Kaplan—the young woman Mancs had rescued in Izmit.