It is with great pride, joy and enthusiasm that The Croatian Rescue Dog Association has undertaken the organisation of the 14th SAR Dog World Championship. It is an honour to have been chosen by the IRO for this difficult task, therefore we shall accomplish all the necessary activities to show that their decision was well made. All our members have immersed themselves most ambitiously into the organization of the WC in order to present in the best possible light not onlzy CRDA and IRO, but Samobor and Croatia as well.

With the gracious support of Samobor's City Council, the Major Dubravko Filipec, alongside the substantial interest shown so far by potential sponsors we can be sure that this event will result in an important promotion of search and rescue dogs, and point out how essential they are in real disaster situations.

As the president of CRDA I wish to express my cordial invitation to all the competitors to the lovely town of Samobor, in hope they will experience memorable moments of their SAR life. I wish the best of luck in competitions to all of them, and wish to convey my pride in having their company for those few days.

I also invite all dog lovers as well as anyone interested in participating as a spectator to come to Samobor and enjoy the sigh of the best SAR dogs in the world, which are always at their service in case of a disaster. We should never forget that all SAR dog handlers train their dogs not for competitions but for real life situations in which their dog might save a human life!

Tomislav Marević