KOLKATA: The match making has been going on for several weeks, but now the stamp of approval has come from Lalbazar itself. The Kolkata Police dog squad has decided to carry out breeding between dogs within its own force — hoping to induct the offspring of its own cadre into the force. The two dogs chosen this month are Labradors that are experts in detecting explosives.
“While we have earlier brought dogs from breeders outside our kennels for breeding, this is the first time both have been chosen from our force. There are two purposes — the belief that their offspring will possess their qualities and to try and cut down on the process of buying the dogs from a kennel outside the state. The experiment has been notified to the state veterinary directorate,” an officer said.
The number of dogs in the squad has dropped to 40 from 48. “After the death of Rosa, a Belgian Shepherd, we decided to increase squad strength. We began scouting for the best pair. There were several issues — they had to be from different bloodlines, comparatively young and be compatible. We chose Topper, a four-year-old male and Flora, who is three-and-a-half-years old. Both have yellowish white fur,” said an officer. For now, the two dogs are being allowed time to meet each other.
Vet T K Samanta sees nothing wrong with the experiment. “This is what every breeder does. He mates across bloodlines hoping that the offspring will possess the same qualities as the father or mother. Not every offspring will meet the mark. But a couple of them can definitely suit the requirement of the job in hand,” he said.
He, though, warned that the entire process and the subsequent delivery of the offspring need to be monitored. “The dog squad has expert vets. Their job will be to monitor health conditions and ensure a strict diet. Among the health monitoring parameters, the body temperature and stool results will be crucial,” said Samanta.
The two dogs will continue to get their daily allocations — including “post retirement benefits” — even if their offspring manage to join the force. “It will be a difficult test that they need to pass before getting inducted. There will be no short cuts for the puppies,” the officer added.
MHA has ordered that the procurement of pups as young as three months old should not be allowed. The ministry feels they are too young to be evaluated on their aptitude for police duties. This, claim city cops, would mean that there can be a further delay in procuring pups unless some “out of the box” solution, like this, are tried. The MHA had in September issued guidelines asking the Border Security Force (BSF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) to undertake large-scale breeding of Police Service K9s, or PSKs, not only to meet their own requirements but also for other central and state police forces.