THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: People in the capital city are sure to remember Jerry, the tracker dog of the K-9 unit of Venjaramoodu and the Kerala Police’s star canine sleuth. Jerry, who played a key role in solving many challenging criminal cases in the department, has been awarded the best performing tracker dog award for the year 2021-22 for her skills in solving many criminal cases.
State police chief Anil Kant felicitated Jerry and her handlers, Vishnu Sankar V S and Anoop M V, in a function held recently in the capital city.
This is the third honour for the seven-year-old Labrador retriever in her career. The first was the best tracker award during the fifth batch police dog training in 2015-16 conducted by the State Dog Training School under the Kerala Police Academy in Thrissur. Jerry won the second award when she tracked the culprit of the Sarada murder case, which happened in 2016.
“Jerry was brought to the department in 2015. She was just three months old then. She underwent nine months of training and was one of the best dogs in the batch. Soon after her training, Jerry joined the services with the Thiruvananthapuram Rural Police in 2016. During the Sarada murder case, she led the investigation team to the house of the murderer after sniffing blood from a knife,” says Vishnu Sankar V S.
During her six-year service, Jerry has assisted the police in solving more than 100 criminal cases, including some famous murder cases in Palode and Kilimanoor police station limits. Recently, she helped the police track the body of a missing bank manager in Venjaramoodu.
“Jerry is the most friendly tracker dog in the department and has never bitten anyone in all her years of service,” shares the proud handler.
There are close to 162 tracker dogs in the state police department, and Jerry is known as the best among them. Another tracker dog Sara in the Venjaramoodu K-9 unit has also helped solve several criminal cases.
Training of canines
The first three months of training will make the dogs more comfortable with the handlers. After that, active dogs will be taken as trackers — an important skill in solving a case. For the remaining six months, dogs will be given special training to track explosives and detect narcotics.