Southwest Christian School students are launching efforts to sponsor a landmine detection dog
Looking for landmines is dangerous, painstaking work, Perry Baltimore III said.
In a day, a person can clear land equal to maybe 5 yards from sideline to sideline on a football field, 20 yards if he has a metal detector. But a detection dog like Utsi can clear the entire field. In fact, Utsi cleared nearly 1,000 square yards a day during her five years working in the African country of Eritrea. That comes to about 1.6 million square yards.
“Tens of thousands of lives are saved because of [the dogs’] great work,” said Baltimore, president of the Marshall Legacy Institute, which works in war-torn countries to remove landmines.
Utsi demonstrated her skills at Southwest Christian School in Fort Worth, where students are launching efforts to raise $20,000 to sponsor a landmine detection dog.
“I think as Christians, it’s our job to go out and help others, and that’s what we’re trying to do,” freshman Mary Smirnis said.
Who plants the mines, students asked.
Baltimore said most are left over from civil wars, planted by rebel groups fighting the government. The institute has provided 137 mine detection dogs in 29 countries, officials said.
Utsi, a 10 year old Belgian Malinois, is part the institute’s Children Against Mines Program, or CHAMPS. Diana Enzi, wife of U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., came up with the idea while brainstorming how to raise money for training such dogs. When children are dedicated to a cause, she said, they can make a big impact in the world. So far, 18 dogs have been sponsored by schools.
“Adults might make the problems, but you can make a big difference,” she told the Southwest Christian students.
About 950 landmine detection dogs are working worldwide, Baltimore says. Nearly half of them, including Utsi, are trained in Texas at Global Training Academy in Somerset.
Baltimore said that the work is hazardous but that many animal advocate groups support it because of the lives saved, including other animals.
Two Texas schools have sponsored dogs so far: Apollo Middle School in Richardson and Trinity Episcopal in Austin.
This week, the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth organized CHAMPS presentations at seven schools to raise awareness of the program. Southwest Christian participates in youth programs with the council, including minimesters with visits to other countries.
Penny Armstrong, school president and headmaster, said that for her students to be leaders of the world, they must understand the world’s problems and work on solutions. She said the first fundraiser to sponsor a dog will be next week, when students can pay $5 for the privilege of wearing something other than the school uniform.
“It is a miracle to take one of God’s creatures and train them to save lives,” she said.