By Emma Mortiboy | Public Fundraising
Hello and the warmest of welcomes to your final update on the work of APOPO’s HeroDOGs for the year!
Ukraine
Across July, August, and September, thanks to support such as yours, APOPO’s teams surveyed 463,078 square meters and helped clear 205,680 square meters in Ukraine’s Mykolayiv and Kharkiv regions.
The dogs are currently working mainly as mine detection dogs, supporting detailed searches of land requiring clearance. They detect explosive scent and indicate suspected hazards to their handlers, helping locate landmines and other explosive ordnance that need further investigation.
In Ukraine, APOPO provides dog and handler teams, while our partner, Mines Advisory Group (MAG), is responsible for manual clearance. Findings from the dogs’ searches are passed to MAG for follow-up investigation and the safe removal or destruction of confirmed explosive hazards. The dogs’ detection work and the subsequent clearance both contribute to preparing land for release.
In September, the teams finished fieldwork at 3 sites: 1 in Mykolayiv and 2 in Kharkiv. These sites now await inspection by the National Mine Action Centre (NMAC). That inspection must take place before the land can be formally released and considered safe for use.
Cambodia
APOPO’s HeroDOGs are working near the Cambodia–Thailand border. Their current tasks include farmland that was heavily bombed and shelled during the 2025 border conflict, leaving it contaminated with cluster munitions and other explosive ordnance.
This recent contamination adds to the landmines and unexploded ordnance already present from Cambodia’s civil war and earlier border conflicts. The team is therefore dealing with explosive hazards left by different periods of fighting on the same land.
Our HeroDOGs are supporting technical survey and clearance across these agricultural and communal areas, helping teams locate the hazards that need to be removed. These searches contribute directly to the work needed to make fields safe to cultivate again.
How do our HeroDOGs indicate the presence of explosives?
As soon as a HeroDOG detects the scent of explosives, they sit down with their nose pointing toward the source. This is their trained indication, telling their handler that they have found something requiring further investigation.
A HeroDOG sits at least 1 meter, roughly his own body length, from the landmine or other item of explosive ordnance. That is a minimum distance: if they pick up the scent farther away, they sit there immediately. This separation helps protect the dog from the hazard they have detected.
Our HeroDOGs’ handlers know their dogs extremely well and understand their behavioural signals during searches. It is important that the bond between dog and handler remains strong, as it is an essential part of working safely and effectively together.
Thank you so much for your continued support of our HeroDOGs. You’re helping our teams locate landmines and other explosive remnants of war, a vital step in the ongoing work to make land safe for local communities.
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