意大利海灘救生犬勇擔救人重任

They leap from helicopters or speeding boats, bringing aid to swimmers who get into trouble off Italy's popular beaches.

For these canine lifeguards, the doggie paddle does just fine.

Hundreds of specially trained dogs form Italy's corps of canine lifeguards. They are deployed each summer to help swimmers in need of rescue.

These "lifedogs" wear a harness or tow a buoy that victims can grab, or a raft they can sit on to be towed back to shore, and unlike their human counterparts, they can easily jump from helicopters and speeding boats to reach swimmers in trouble.

With millions flocking to Italy's crowded beaches each summer, the Italian Coast Guard says it rescues about 3,000 people every year - and their canine helpers are credited with saving several lives.

It takes three years for the canines to reach expert rescue status, and currently 300 dogs are fully trained for duty, said Roberto Gasbarri, who coordinates the Italian School of Canine Lifeguards program at a center outside of Rome in the seaside town of Civitavecchia.

"Dogs are useful in containing the physical fatigue of the lifeguard, to increase the speed at which casualties are retrieved, to increase the security of both the casualty and of the lifeguard," Gasbarri said.

The Civitavecchia center is one of a dozen around the country for the school founded more than 20 years ago in the northern province of Bergamo by Ferruccio Pilenga, whose first trainee was his own Newfoundland.

The school will train any breed, as long as they weigh at least 30 kg (66 pounds), but Labradors, Newfoundlands and golden retrievers are most commonly used because of their natural instinct for swimming. Each dog works in tandem with a human lifeguard, who also acts as the animal's trainer.

它們從直升飛機或快艇上一躍而下，拯救落水的遊客——這就是意大利最近在其著名的海灘度假地增設的救生犬。

救生犬的狗刨式遊法足以完成任務。

目前意大利共有數百隻受過特訓的救生犬。每到夏天，這些救生犬會被增派到各個海灘度假地，幫助救援溺水者。

這些“救生犬”身穿套具，有時會拖着一個讓落水者能抓住的漂浮物，或是一個充氣救生船，讓落水者坐在裏面、然後將其拖上岸。和人類救生員不同，救生犬可以輕而易舉地從直升飛機或快艇上跳入水中，很快接近落水者。

每年夏天，意大利海灘度假地會迎來數百萬的遊客。據意大利海岸防衛隊介紹，他們每年營救的落水者數量達3000人——而這些救生犬就曾救過幾條人命。

據意大利救生犬學校奇維塔韋基亞課程中心的協調人羅伯特•加斯巴里說，救生犬一般需要受訓三年才能達到專業救生的水平。目前意大利共有300條狗已接受了完整訓練，獲得上崗資格。奇維塔韋基亞是位於羅馬城外的一個海濱小鎮。

加斯巴里說：“救生犬的作用在於，它們可以防止救生員出現體力不支，加快救援速度，進一步保障落水者和救生員的安全。”

奇維塔韋基亞課程中心是意大利救生犬學校12個培訓中心之一。該學校由費魯喬•皮倫加於20多年前在意大利北部的貝加莫省創辦，他的第一個受訓者就是他自己的紐芬蘭犬。

救生犬學校接受任何犬種，但它們的體重至少要達到30千克（66磅）。不過拉布拉多獵犬、紐芬蘭犬和金毛尋回犬是最常見的救生犬種，因爲它們水性較好。每隻受訓犬都有一名救生員搭檔，這名救生員同時擔當它們的馴養師。

Vocabulary:

canine: a dog 犬

doggie paddle: 狗刨式游泳

buoy: 這裏指life buoy，救生圈。

in tandem with: 同……合作