THE rescue dog who found the bodies of two gold panners last month buried in a landslide in Itogon was awarded by PROCOR Regional Director PBGen Ronald Lee during the flag-raising ceremony at Camp Major Bado Dangwa last Monday.
Zeus was awarded the Outstanding Service Medal for finding the bodies of Morina Simeon Lintan and Nestor Talangcag after four days of searching the rubbles along Antamok River in Loacan, Itogon, Benguet.
The couple was gold panning when the mountain slope behind them suddenly fell, burying them. Zeus and his handlers were able to find them separately under a huge boulder.
Dug out from this is the story of Zeus as a dog once rescued by Ruben Ventura who found him abused and severely malnourished.
Ventura found him in Tarlac and patiently nursed him back to health.
When Cordillera police went there to look for candidates for their PROCOR Regional Explosive and Canine Unit(RECU) also known as the Torogi Dogs, Ventura handed Zeus over to Cyrus Backeng.
