Pune city police have a sanctioned strength of nine dogs, of which four retired after completing 10 years of service earlier this year. The new canines were recruited by a committee of Pune police personnel. (Twitter/@PuneCityPolice) The Pune city police have announced the arrival of four new members in its dog squad – Waghya, Shaurya, Oscar and Rakshak – whose names were picked from among hundreds submitted by citizens after the police had sought suggestions earlier.
Tweeting a photo of the four new dogs, along with other team members of the squad, police commissioner Amitabh Gupta said, “#Pune…say ‘woof’ to WAGHYA, SHAURYA, OSCAR & RAKSHAK, the 4 names selected from hundreds of names u gave for our new #K9 dogs, based on how they responded to each name!!”
Waghya, which means tiger or someone with tiger-like attributes, was the name of the loyal pet dog of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The canine has been immortalised by a statue put up next to the samadhi of the Maratha warrior king on Raigad fort. The new recruit named Waghya is a Doberman who will be trained in crime detection.
Shaurya, which means bravery, is a labrador who will receive training in bomb detection. Oscar, named after the radiotelephony representation of the letter O, is also a labrador who will be trained in bomb detection, while Rakshak, which is Sanskrit for protector, is a labrador who will be trained in narcotics detection.
Pune city police have a sanctioned strength of nine dogs, of which four retired after completing 10 years of service earlier this year. The new canines were recruited by a committee of Pune police personnel.
Police units in Maharashtra usually recruit dog breeds like Doberman, German shepherd, labrador retrievers and, in the last three years, have also started inducting Belgian malinois. The puppies are selected for service at the age of 45 to 60 days, by a committee. Till the age of six months, these dogs remain stationed with their respective service units getting to know their two handlers and undergoing basic obedience training.
At the age of six months, they go to the Maharashtra State Dog Training School in Pune where they undergo training for six or nine months depending on the category of duty. While the dogs retire at the age of 10 years, they have to undergo a month-long refresher course every three years, for which they return to the training school. A system has also been laid down for their post-retirement care and, in most cases, their handlers end up adopting the dogs.
Established in 1962, the Maharashtra State Dog Training School in Pune trains canines for four tasks – crime detection in which they learn to pick, recognise and track scents, narcotics detection, patrolling or guarding duties and explosives detection for Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) operations. Maharashtra currently has over 450 police dogs in service.
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