Dogs on the payroll Print E-mail
Written by Anna Milford, 2005   
Page 2 of 2
 

United Kingdom Fire Service Search & Rescue Teams (UKFSSART)

Based in Leicester and co-ordinated by the Fire Service Inspectorate, UKFSSART liaises with around 16 teams throughout the UK. Eight teams are always operational 365 days a year, to be increased (with the help of well-spent government money) to 35 by 2007. As well as the usual skills of trained dogs, there are experts in heavy, rope, water and confined space rescue.

UKFSSART teams are only despatched overseas in co-operation with the Home Office and Dept of International Development after 'requests at government level', and then only at the invitation of a host country. Experience has shown that groups or individuals rushing in to help often cause more problems than they solve.

Recent deployments have been to Montserrat, following the volcanic eruptions, and after earthquakes in Turkey, Iran, Gujarat and Algeria. Teams were on standby after the Tsunami but eventually only officers flew out to assist the Thais with their own dog teams. International help comes at a price since dogs must be quarantined on return to the UK and because of this, overseas duty is restricted to one trip.

Pet passports have made things slightly easier, so Gemma, quarantined after the Algerian earthquake, and handler Chris Pritchard were allowed to go to the US to receive a medal, and had the time taken knocked off her six months' quarantine.

Border collies Gemma and Max were awarded the 2003 PRO Dogs gold medals for their "exemplary devotion search after search" in extreme heat and difficult terrain after the Algerian earthquake. Eliot, another border collie, also won a medal.

The best dogs for finding victims in collapsed buildings, air crashes or avalanches are Springer spaniels, collies and Labradors, but they cannot always judge if the recently buried are still alive, so hopes are often dashed when only a body is found. German shepherds have the same problem, but are not used because any unexpected movement is seen as threatening and the dog may attack in response.

Thousands of dogs have their day at Crufts Show at the NEC Birmingham, and displays by dog teams from the police, fire, rescue and Customs teams are real crowd-pullers. This year a team of eight from UKFSSART abseiled down the front of the Kennel Club in London to advertise the event.

Customs & Excise

Many abandoned or stray dogs rescued by the Battersea Dogs' Home have gone on to fine careers in public service. Egg rose to be a star turn sniffer dog for HM Customs & Excise, one of around 90 dogs stationed at UK ports and airports.

Patrols cover both passenger and freight terminals seeking out smuggled goods - animal products, prohibited bush meat, drugs, tobacco and even currency notes. There really is such a thing as tainted money, the scent coming mainly from handling by drug dealers, and the key aim is preventing it leaving the country. Within only a few weeks, Ooshan sniffed out £15 million in currency and 100kg of cocaine worth £6 million.

Few smugglers are the ice-cold villains of fiction, so when a suspect is confronted by a silent sit-and-stare dog, guess who blinks first? When its suspicions are alerted, the dog will sit by the container or individual and wait for the handler to take action, then dispense the expected praise and reward - usually a game of ball of which the dog never tires.

Dogs from the British Transport and London Transport Police are also involved in tracking down money, and since the 2002 Proceeds of Crime Act came into force, £93 million has been recovered, 58 per cent by the Customs.

The Pro Dogs award

A 'second chancer made good' from the Defence Animal Centre in Melton Mowbray now works both sides of the Channel Tunnel. So far Chase has detected around £25 million of drugs, cigarettes and tobacco. He kept his PRO Dogs silver medal but donated the £250 prize to Hearing Dogs for the Deaf. Charlie, another erstwhile Battersea inmate, had his taste for adventure satisfied by joining the Kenya Wildlife Service dog unit to hunt down poachers.

Rocky, a Labrador, does time in the prison service seeking out drugs and illicit alcohol, moonshine brewed on the premises and cause of much violence and injury. He can also detect illegal weapons, contraband and banned mail and mobile phones. Like Chase of the Customs, he too won a PRO Dog silver medal.

Information and pictures courtesy Chris Pritchard of UKFSSART, Leicester, Scott Joliffe of Strathclyde Police and Nigel Knott of Customs & Excise, Dover.
<< Start < Prev 1 2 Next > End >>
 
[ Back ]