BAGALKOT: Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised desi hounds, including Mudhols, in his Mann Ki Baat and urged people to adopt them, the demand for the famed local dog breed has doubled with paramilitary, forest and other departments showing interest in including these slimly built and razor-sharp canines into their squads. On Thursday, the Canine Research and Information Centre (CRI C) at Timmapur in Bagalkot district, which has been set up to promote Mudhol hounds, handed over four puppies to BSF and two to Bandipur Tiger Reserve of the forest department.
Head of CRI C Mahesh Akashi told The New Indian Express, “BSF and forest department had placed orders for the puppies with the Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Science University in Bidar. As agreed, we gave two male and two female pups to BSF and a male and female pup to forest department. We charged `25,000 for each pair of puppies.”
This is the first time that Mudhol hounds are being included in the BSF and Special Tiger Protection Force of the forest department at Bandipur Tiger Reserve (BTR). They already serve in the Indian Armed Forces, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and police squads of various states.
T Balachandra, Director, BTR, said, “Mudhol hound is as good as a German Shepherd. It is more aggressive and quick in detecting crimes. This is the first time we are inducting a desi breed into our dog squad, and we have now decided to give preference to local breeds instead of foreign ones.
We will train the dogs for at least three months before putting them on the ground to detect wildlife crimes.” CRIC, the only canine research centre in the state, now has 40 dogs for breeding and research purposes.
Among the 40 dogs, 37 are Mudhols -- 29 female and 8 male, while the remaining are Pashmi breed. “After the Prime Minister mentioned Mudhol hounds in his Man Ki Baat, the demand has surged. We have been getting hundreds of calls every day from across the country to place the orders for puppies. We sell pups in two seasons in a year and it is on a first-come-firstserved basis,” Mahesh said.