Tauranga search and rescue volunteer Nick Petry and his German shepherd Kora have completed 150 search and rescue deployments together – a rare feat according to those in the industry.

This month, the pair were recognised for their achievement with a certificate and trophy, which acknowledges six years of operational work across Bay of Plenty and beyond.

Kora, 9, has been an operational New Zealand Land Search and Rescue dog since she was 3. Petry and Kora are part of Tauranga LandSar, the local search and rescue group.

Police Sergeant Anna Plowman said her organisation congratulated Petry and Kora for their 150 operational deployments milestone for LandSar.

“The pair have been instrumental in finding, and assisting to locate, lost and distressed members of our Tauranga community, alongside answering the call from other districts to ensure those in their communities get home safe too. This is the first instance where this has occurred in New Zealand.”

Petry said the acknowledgement was particularly meaningful because volunteers did not always receive credit for the time and commitment they put into search and rescue.

“It’s just recognition of what we’ve done, which is really nice because volunteers don’t get that much recognition,” he said.

The pair’s deployments have taken them mostly around Bay of Plenty, although they’d travelled further afield when needed.

Their work included searches for elderly people who’d wandered from home, people living with dementia, lost trampers and hikers, hunters and people in distress who do not want to be found.

Nick Petry and Kora have been part of the frontline response team for search and rescue missions across the North Island for six years. Photo / Rescue, Revive Rehome Bay of Plenty

Petry said call-outs had increased noticeably in recent years, with more than one-third of Kora’s 150 deployments occurring in the past year.

One recent search that stood out involved a school camp, when Kora helped locate two teenagers.

“We sort of knew some of the people that had kids at the camp, it wasn’t the people that were lost, but ... there was the added pressure of people knowing the people,” Petry said.

“It was great to find them and they were pretty happy about it.”

The pair were involved in the response to the Mount Maunganui landslide tragedy in January, which Petry described as one of their more memorable and intense days.

The certificate and trophy presented to Nick Petry and search and rescue dog Kora after 150 deployments. Photo / Kelly O'Hara

Their search and rescue work came on top of Petry’s job as an architectural designer and project manager.

“We’ve all got jobs, so we’ve all got to drop everything and go and do these things. It normally takes up most of your night, so then you’re tired the next day, or it takes up your whole day, so you get no work done.”

LandSar Tauranga chair Nic Hume said 150 operational deployments was “a massive milestone”.

“There are plenty of search and rescue volunteers who won’t attend that many operations in their whole volunteer career,” Hume said.

Countless hours

“Every one of those callouts is a person who needed help and a family waiting at home for news. Kora and Nick have been there for every one of them, helping bring people home.”

Hume said the public did not always see the work behind the scenes.

“Search dogs and their handlers put in countless hours of training to stay ready. They get called out at all hours, in all weather, and that often means dropping work, family and plans at a moment’s notice. Nick and Kora have made that commitment again and again.

“We’re incredibly proud of them both and really grateful for everything they do for the community.

“Kora’s definitely in the running for Goodest Girl.”

While 150 deployments was a significant milestone, NZ LandSar Search Dogs chair Murray Bowden said the number should not be seen as a measure of individual success.

There are 17 operational dog handlers nationally, some with decades of service and hundreds of searches involving multiple dogs.

Kora with her trophy.

“We don’t generally count deployments as a measure of success,” Bowden said.

“A search is never the achievement of one handler or one dog. Every deployment sits within a much larger team effort – from the police as the lead agency and the incident management team to ground teams, other specialty teams, communications and the many other people working behind the scenes.”

For Petry, that wider team effort was also an important part of the milestone.

“It’s always a team effort,” he said. “We couldn’t achieve what we have without the support of Tauranga LandSar. Also, the Bay of Plenty police for backing our abilities and trusting us to get the job done when needed.”

After six years, Petry said one lesson remained the same: people often did not expect to get lost or find themselves needing rescue.

“People just don’t think they’re going to get lost. They’re normally underprepared and they just think their cellphone will save them when it comes to it.”

Tauranga search and rescue dog Kora with owner and volunteer Nick Petry. Photo / Kelly O'Hara

He urged people heading into the outdoors to consider carrying a locator beacon.

“They save lives and they make jobs so much easier,” he said.

Despite the seriousness of the work, Petry said working alongside Kora was one of the most rewarding aspects of volunteering.