MÉRIDA, Yuc., (June 26, 2021). Canine officers received high recognition from police chiefs and civilians for their work in public safety, investigating and preventing crimes in the cities where they are assigned with their trainers.
Twenty-three dogs trained to detect drugs, firearms, cash, explosives, corpses, search for people, arrest criminals, among other special events, were together on the esplanade of La Mejorada park because they will participate, along with their instructors, in the seminar “Detection and Operational Tactical Deployment with Canine Binomials”, with the certification of those who pass this specialization course.
Canine pairs from the K-9 police units of the X Military Region of the Mexican Army arrived in Mérida; of the State Guard of Baja California; the Municipal Police of Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo; the Ministry of Public Security of Yucatán; and the Municipal Police of Mérida.
“We know that the pairs (police dog-trainer) are a key element in fighting and preventing crimes. Their work is very important because they avoid the presence of objects that put citizens’ lives at risk. With this update, the effectiveness of the canine agents’ work will increase and action procedures will be unified, ”said the director of the Mérida Municipal Police, Mario Arturo Romero Escalante, during the opening speech.
Commander Romero Escalante stressed that the corporation he leads is concerned with the professionalization of its human resources so that they maintain Mérida as the safest city in the country, and this professionalization includes the canine unit of the municipal police.
Mayor Ruz Castro stressed that the work of the canine pairs contributes to social peace, and allows citizens to enjoy a safe city. For this reason, he thanked the instructors, trainers, and participants who compare their experiences so that the work of the dogs is more effective.
The trainers highlighted the close bond between the dog and the person, the empathy and companionship that is fostered during this police work, the discipline and obedience, and the high development of skills in each specialty, which is achieved effectively in 24 weeks.
In addition to training police dogs, food plays a vital role in effectively carrying out their police work.
Each working dog has a special diet, according to the type of activity it performs. For example, dogs specialized in detecting narcotics, corpses, explosives are different from those who go out on patrol, they have more wear and tear. They are fed high-performance croquettes and vitamin supplements are applied.
The dogs train like if they were playing
Veterinarian Carla Mejía Avilés affirmed that the sense of working dogs is developed through games. Therefore, when they go into action, they are playing and their coaches pay them with a small ball.
“When the dog makes a detection, for example of drugs, the first thing that his binomial does is to release his ball to him so that he can play. All the work of the police dog is a game, at no time is it assaulted or mistreated. In addition, the myth that to detect drugs, the dog has to be a drug addict is over. Very similar aromas are handled, but it does not become addicted to dogs ”.
In Yucatan, at least 70 pairs work in favor of public security, both from police corporations and the Mexican Army; fortunately, says the vet, there have been no casualties or injuries of gravity; partly because their instructors are well trained in working with the dogs.
In this seminar she will teach coaches how to give first aid to a dog that suffers an injury, fracture, suffocation, drowning in a disaster area, while receiving veterinary attention.
Retired dogs
A working dog in a public safety corporation has a lifespan of 9 years. After this period, it is sterilized, trained for family life in a home, and donated to the person concerned, generally the same trainer.
Source: Diario de Yucatán
