THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Here is something to chew on. Desi dog breeds, loved by police and paramilitary forces across the country due to their climate resilience and impressive capabilities, are not – or at least, no longer – the favourites of the Kerala Police.
Surprisingly, the Kerala Police were the pioneers when it came to drafting indigenous canine breeds to the K9 squad and training them as sniffers. In 2019, much before other states had warmed up to the idea, Kerala’s K9 unit had drafted a Mudhol Hound, two Chippiparai and two Kanni dogs. In 2020, another batch of 12 Chippiparai and Kanni dogs were added. Many of them were trained to become efficient sniffers, breaking the conventional thinking that the desi breeds could only perform guard duties.
However, the state police’s interest in these breeds has since dwindled. Though Kerala’s K9 squad made multiple purchases after 2020, indigenous breeds were overlooked, as the officials favoured exotic dogs. This, even as several police units and paramilitary forces, including the Border Security Force, continue to draft native breeds into their dog squads.
“It is largely due to lack of interest among top cops,” said a source with the Kerala Police.
The decision to draft desi breeds was taken when Loknath Behera was the state police chief. Not only are these breeds sturdier and better at adapting than many other breeds, but purchasing them is also easy on the pocket. They are also easier to handle.
Mudhol Hound is predominantly seen in Karnataka and Maharastra, while Chippiparai and Kanni hail from Tamil Nadu.
Ramesh P, who had trained the dogs at the Kerala Police Academy in Thrissur, said desi dog breeds were equally good compared to exotic breeds and responded really well to training. “What matters the most is the age of the pups. If we get pups that are two months old – considered the ripe age for starting training – the outcome will be good,” he said.
Ramesh said once desi pups were taught obedience, they fared better. “The Kerala Police were the first to successfully experiment with having desi breeds as scent hounds,” he said.
The indigenous breeds, Ramesh said, were found to be sturdier, more disease-resistant and terrain-adaptive.
“They could withstand the tropical climate better than exotic breeds, work longer hours, and were even playful while searching for articles during training. Their maintenance and handling were also easy and they stayed calm even during disturbances,” Ramesh said.
A source in the K9 squad said desi breeds are also cheaper to purchase than exotic breeds. “However, due to reluctance of top officials who did not want to think out of the box, exotic breeds were casually selected,” he said.
According to the source, the batch of desi dogs in the K9 unit is in the last phase of career as police dogs are expected to be in service for nine to 10 years at most. Kerala Police’s K9 squad has 142 members. There are plans to augment the bench strength by drafting 38 new canines.
