They work like dogs!

KOCHI: Much like policemen, the police dogs in the city are facing work pressure owing to rising crimes. Their number is dwindling, with the majority of them being over-aged and new ones yet to be procurred.At present, there are seven dogs in the dog squad with the city police. Among them, three canines are sniffers and four are trackers. The sub-unit  of the dog squad based at the AR Camp has two sniffers. With rise in bomb threats, drills and routine checking duties, more number of dogs are needed.“The work pressure on the dogs has been growing. One of our trackers died last month. We are planning to recruit more canines into the squad to reduce their strain,” an official with the dog squad said.Two dogs are currently undergoing training at police dog squad and their training will last for nine months.“We have Labrador, German Shepard and Doberman in the squad. Labradors are mostly preferred sniffers. Besides German Shepard, Dobermans and Labradors are also used for tracking,” the official said.“Of the seven dogs, five are more than seven years old. Dogs hit old-age at seven. There is no problem such as non-performance or lack of vigour, but we can’t expect them to be high performers. Our dog squad is one of the best in the state and inclusion of two more canines will make the squad more efficient,”  officials said.