City dog squad to get a new meember soon

KOCHI:  The dog squad in the city will soon get a new member to sniff out contrabands and bombs, with the induction of a sniffer dog in two months. Two labradors are under training at the Police Academy, Thrissur, of which one would be allotted to Kochi City Police and one to Ernakulam rural police.The dog squad had lost one of its sniffer dogs a few months ago due to illness. At present, there are seven dogs in the squad with the city police. Among them, three canines are sniffers and four trackers. “The sub-unit of the dog squad based at the AR Camp has two sniffers. The new dog will be  housed at the kennel in Tripunithura AR camp.  It would be of the Labrador Retriever breed. With a rise in bomb threats, drills and routine checking duties, more number of dogs are needed,” officials in the squad said. More sniffer canines are needed than trackers for the city police, they said.  The dog unit, camped in the AR camp, has two sniffers.  “The city police mostly have to come across with cases of bomb threats, which makes it necessary to induct more sniffers into the squad. So we are planning to recruit more sniffers,” officials said. There are Labradors, German Shephard and Doberman in the squad. Trackers are dogs that track criminals and material evidences from the crime scenes; whereas sniffers are used for bomb detection.  Labradors are mostly preferred to sniff out bombs. German Shephards, Dobermans and Labradors are used for tracking. “The Police Department is also looking for other breeds for the dog squad. But we recruit Labradors as they are best suited for the Indian climate and due to health reasons. Besides, Labradors are easy to be trained. Since Labradors are more sociable, they are not preferred for tracking duties. But they are the best sniffer dogs,” official said“The dogs are given best treatment in the police squad. They have fixed food menu which includes milk, egg, and special foods. They will be given routine drill in the morning and evening. They are given advanced training for maintaining sniffing and tracking abilities,” the official said.