Indian Railways Planning To Set Up Dog Breeding And Training Centre

Indian Railways will soon set up a dog breeding and training centre to deal with the increased demand of pedigree dogs for distinguishing explosives and drugs on its premises.

Railway’s dog squad at present has only 332 dogs against the sanctioned strength of 459. Currently, Railways have two dog training centres at Daya Basti in Delhi and Podanur in Chennai, it has a limited area to train 23 dogs only.

A senior railway protection force official said, “There is a requirement of about 2,600 trained dogs including sniffers and trackers in Railways but our dog squad is severely under-strength.”

There will be a trained staff for dog breeding and training centre at railway land. Railways is in the process of earmarking a suitable area for developing the state-of-the-art centre to strengthen its dog squad.

Sniffer dogs are required to detect explosives and drugs while trackers are required at the crime scene to track culprits.

Presently, Railways is buying pups of Doberman, German Shepherd, Labrador, Golden Retriever from private breeders. Dogs from private breeders comes in the range of Rs 20,000 to Rs. 30,000 per dog.

A sniffer or tracker dog requires two hours rest after sniffing. If you press a sniffer dog more than two hours, it will lose interest. Doberman and German Shepherds are best suited for tracker squads.

“We are not sure of the breed quality and lineage and totally depend on the open market. Once we have our own breeding centre then we will ensure lineage to enrich our dog squad,” he said.

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Source: IndiaTimes