Donna has finally got the recognition it deserved. A police dog that worked hard to find victims of the Pettimudy landslip, it has bagged the gold medal at the service efficiency test conducted at the Kerala Police Academy, Thrissur.
Donna, a Labrador Retriever, got the gold medal as part of the assessment test before the passing-out parade at the State dog training institute of the Kerala Police Academy.
Donna was an integral part of the rescue team at Pettimudy, near Munnar, where four estate lanes were buried under debris of the landslip on the fateful day on August 7. As many as 66 bodies were recovered in rescue operations which lasted a month.
Police officers said Donna worked tirelessly with rescuers to recover bodies before formally completing dog squad training.
“Donna was deputed for search and rescue operations for the first time. It has now completed training. Dogs deployed for search and rescue operations will be capable of finding the pulse of life in a landslip or similar casualties and are essential in an emergency situation,” Idukki dog squad in-charge Roy Thomas said.
Donna was included in the district dog squad in view of the chances of similar incidents in future. Along with Donna, Dolly (sniffer) also completed training and joined the dog squad at Idukki.
Idukki Superintendent of Police R. Karuppusami gave a reception to the two members. He also lauded trainers of the squad.
The other members in the dog squad included Geni, Esthor (tracker), Chandu (sniffer), and Laika and Neeli (narcotic).