Hero Dog Frida, Who Helped Find Survivors After 2017 Mexico Earthquake, Retires

Eric Todisco

After a long career dedicated to saving lives, Frida, the 10-year-old Labrador retriever, is retiring from life as a search and rescue dog.

The announcement was made on Monday in a press release by the Mexican government, who worked closely with Frida over the years, specifically when she was called into action in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake in Mexico in 2017.

“Frida is an emblematic character, not only of this Institution, but of all of Mexico, it is a canine binomial that carried out rescue work in disaster zones, who with her sympathy won the hearts of Mexicans and today the performance performed in his career at SEMAR,” the press release began.

Frida
Frida

After the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that rocked Mexico City on September 19, 2017, Frida, working with the Canine Unit and the Urban Search and Rescue Unit of the Ministry of the Navy, used her senses to help assist in the search and rescue of people caught in the aftermath of the natural disaster, according to the release. The Lab managed to successfully locate over a dozen people, and brought them all to safety.

She also used her senses to help assist after the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, the explosion of the PEMEX Tower in 2013, the Guaranda earthquake in Ecuador in 2016.

Frida
Frida

“After serving ten years, two months and 12 days in the active service of the Navy of Mexico, without a doubt, Frida has earned respect, admiration and affection in the most difficult times in which the naval personnel and Mexicans united to strengthen the great values ​​that distinguish Mexicans,” the press release added.

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After her efforts in 2017, Frida became hugely popular, specifically on social media, even being recognized by celebrities such as Chris Evans.

“What did we do to deserve dogs?” the Avengers: Endgame actor tweeted in response to a NowThis video, which showed Frida in action helping locate survivors of the 2017 Mexico earthquake.

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The video went viral, with over 10,000 retweets and thousands of Twitter users replying and thanking Frida for contributing her talents to society and saving lives.

Frida’s retirement came as part of the Mexican navy’s “International Day of the Rescue,” which also noted that the canine would be receiving a toy that would symbolize, “the beginning of her new life.”