The transition of Champ: from pet to sniffer dog

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India News

Mumbai - Champ acted as a sniffer dog in the film ‘Black Friday’ based on the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai. Now, the 7/11 bombings have enabled the Labrador to not only make the transition from reel to real life but also be part of an elite squad trained to be silent when they discover a bomb.

Three-year-old Champ, who does not belong to any police sniffer dog squad, is a pet who is a champ in more than name. He is now part of a canine bomb disposal squad to sniff out explosives - but with a difference.

These dog sleuths have been tutored not to bark when they discover a bomb.

‘Earlier, sniffer dogs used to be trained to bark after detecting explosives. Now, if they find any explosives they are trained to sit down and gesture at the explosive, as terrorists have started using explosives with sound sensors, which explode when exposed to sound,’ said Railway Protection Force’s (RPF) chief security commissioner Anil Sharma.

He added that bombs have microphones in them that can be programmed to go off at a particular sound pitch. ‘The timers in the bombs can be set to explode by a dog’s bark, a train whistle or even high traffic noise,’ Sharma added.

Apart from Champ, the 16-member canine team consists of another Labrador, two-year-old Tyson, and 14 sniffer dogs from the RPF’s bomb disposal squad.

The dog squad has been kept busy ever since the 7/11 blasts with over half a dozen bomb hoaxes.

Champ’s and Tyson’s owners are among the hundreds of dog breeders and trainers who had come forward to help the police after the blasts.

‘When the blast occurred, I though that I could at least play a small part in the effort to fight terrorism. I had trained Champ as a sniffer dog, and so I approached the authorities offering Champ’s services. The railway police selected him for the job,’ said Jaisingh Naik, a private breeder and trainer who owns Champ.

Said Y.K. Rona, sub-inspector in-charge of the Ruff’s dog squad: ‘We were approached by many dog owners offering the services of their trained dogs to detect explosives after the July 11 bombings. But we selected only two after we found them capable of doing the job.’

‘In fact, till two weeks ago the Railway Police bomb squad had just four sniffer dogs, which was woefully inadequate to tackle investigations,’ Rana told IANS.

‘Apart from Champ and Tyson, we brought in dogs from private security agencies and kennels, trained them and put them to use. Most of these dogs are Labradors and German Shepherds.’

‘The dog squad handlers and trainers today have to upgrade their training methods as the bombers are taking advantage of technology,’ Rana said.

He admitted that the railway dog squad had been given new instructions a year ago to train sniffer dogs not to bark. ‘The new instructions were given a year back. But this is the first time that the training has been put to actual use.’