It is not just people who are escaping this summer’s scorching heat by using air coolers. The three dogs in the Gulbarga district dog squad have been provided coolers in their kennels by the district police.
Roona, a 11-year-old female canine cools her body in front of the newly-provided cooler at her enclosure. Like Roona, two other dogs also do not feel the high temperature of Gulbarga. With temperature rising to as much as 43 degrees in Gulbarga district, Superintendent of Police Amith Singh initiated measures to provide coolers in each dog cage.
The senior-most canine in the dog squad, Roona, is a Doberman and a specialist in crime cases.
Banti, an eight-year-old female Labrador, is also used for investigation of crimes. Jimmy, a German Shepherd and the only male dog in the squad, is the youngest and was born in 2009. He helps the police in detecting explosives.
Siddanna Malagar, who handles Roona, said the dogs found it very difficult to remain in their kennels due to rising mercury level. Hence, the higher-ups decided to provide them coolers.
There are two handlers for each dog. Shahabuddin and Siddanna handle Roona while Veerabhadrappa and Sharanabasappa handle Banti. Jimmy is handled by Anand Kumar and Manjunath.
What They Eat
Many are curious about the kind of food being served to canines of the Police Department across the state.
According to Siddanna, each adult dog above the age of six months is given 500 ml milk, an egg and malt made of raagi/rava/sabbakki/shavige for breakfast after their morning walk and exercise.
In the evening, they are provided with one kilo of beef. Besides, shark liver oil, calcium tablets and boiled vegetables are also provided daily. Chicken liver is served twice a week.
As prices of all these commodities shot up, the state government recently hiked the daily food allowance of each dog from Rs 150 to Rs 300.