Back in 2017, Chile experienced some rather devastating wildfires that burned more than 1.4 million acres of forest, as well as almost 1,500 homes. 11 people ended up losing their lives in the deadly blazes. In the years since it has been a very arduous journey for those trying to bring life back to the scorched earth. But with a little canine help, two sisters have been doing their part to help rebuild in face of the destruction. And their three Border Collies could not be any cuter as they do their doggie part as well.
Francisca and Constanza Torres have been using the help of their dogs, Das, Olivia, and Summer, to get seeds planted. They fitted their pups with special backpacks that release the seeds of native plants along the ground as the dogs run about – and they seem to love it! As Francisca shared with Treehugger – an offshoot of the Mother Nature Network – that not only is it helping the environment, but the dogs are more than happy for the playtime.
She added, “It’s a country trip, where they can run as fast as they can and have a great time. We come out with the dogs and the backpacks full of native seeds, and they run for the burned forest spreading the seeds.”
As a result, they are seeing many new flora and fauna making a return to the areas that had been burned. Besides using the dogs to help regrow the forests, Torres also keeps busy training assistance dogs. She is in charge of Pewos, an environmental community that is dog-focused.
She pointed out the Border Collies are actually great for the work that they’re doing because they not only have the endurance and speed to run for miles across forest terrain, but they are focused dogs who don’t get distracted by wildlife. The three dogs are about to cross 18 miles per day, which means that they’re able to spread more than 20 pounds of seeds throughout the forest. That is much more compared to the measly few miles that humans can cover a day. In addition, Treehugger has noted that dogs are a lot cheaper to use than drones or robots, and they have a much lighter carbon footprint. Overall it sounds like a win for everyone involved!
