In Search of the Missing

Renowned as one of the most skilled search dog handlers on both land and sea, Mick McCarthy has over twenty years experience of searching for missing persons. He has experienced first-hand the dangers, thrills, tragedies and triumphs of search and rescue operations carried out on flood-swollen rivers, raging seas, through woodland, bog land and on treacherous mountains, often in the dead of night. McCarthy's captivating story provides a deeply personal account of how a boy who loved the company of dogs grew up to become a man obsessed with dogs and their training, ultimately leading to the idea of qualifying his dog for voluntary search and rescue work, regardless of the cost, even to his personal life. Based on his abiding philosophy that 'perfect practice makes perfect', he paints a vivid picture of the characters and dogs behind search and rescue operations, the painstaking demands of training and the rigorous requirements for qualification.Author BiographyMick McCarthy is from Cork and is the first person in the Republic of Ireland to qualify a dog as an upgraded international mountain rescue search dog. He is the founder of the Cork Area Search and Rescue Dog Association and is a founding member of both the Search and Rescue Dog Association Ireland and the British Overseas Disaster Unit. Patricia Ahern changed to a career in journalism, which she began with the Cork Independent. She is the author of Picture Poetry Mallow and has an MA in Women's Studies, a H Dip in Journalism and Media Communications and a BA in English and Sociology.