(India) Meal lost as bosses crack cost whip

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Meal lost as bosses crack cost whip

OUR CORRESPONDENT

The Telegraph

 

A dog's life

 

Bhubaneswar, Dec. 17: They serve with unflinching loyalty and courage but are

still made to eat less than before.

 

The dog squad of Orissa police has been active since 1961 and its four-legged

members have helped solve many a complicated case. In 2005, the canines were

engaged in 549 cases and they detected vital clues in 313 of them.

 

The police department, in a bid to cut costs, recently asked officers of the dog

squad and its local units to reduce the number of meals for the canines from

three to two a day.

 

The average maintenance cost of an adult police dog is around Rs 4,500 a month.

There are nearly a hundred such dogs in 18 districts of the state. The

cost-cutting, said sources in the department, is expected to help save Rs 1,200

per dog every month.

 

" All sniffer and tracking dogs stationed in the district detective dog squads

will be given a meal of 250 gm of rice, 500 gm of goat meat, 100 gm of

vegetables and 5 gm of turmeric powder. The dogs will also be allowed a second

meal comprising 250 gm chapati and 500 ml of milk, " the police directive says.

 

A senior official of the dog squad said the canines would no longer be given the

post-lunch meal comprising 250 gm chapati, 500 ml of milk and two eggs.

 

The dog squad in Bhubaneswar has five members. " The capital is growing and just

five dogs are not enough to meet the growing needs. The number of VVIP visits

has increased like never before and the orders for security checks are rising, "

said the officer in-charge of the dog detective squad (Bhubaneswar), Sameer

Mishra.

 

The five canines in the capital include three Labradors and two Dobermans. The

seniormost is Leo, a Labrador, who is part of the security apparatus of the

chief minister and governor. The dogs are also called into action whenever a

VVIP or VIP visits the city.

 

Two of the dogs are responsible for detection of explosives, two are trackers

and the fifth one is used in search and rescue operations.

 

" There is a need for at least three more dogs in each category. We are forced to

make the existing force overwork, " said Mishra.

 

Leo’s trainer T.K. Majhi believes the only way out is getting more dogs. " As a

trainer I can feel that my dog is overworked but there’s no way out until the

centre gets new dogs. Their food intake has been reduced and that shows in his

performance level. He gets tired and remains uninterested. "

 

Leo is due for retirement in another four months and so are the two Dobermans

— Don and Salty. " The department is also planning to cut costs on medication,

including vaccines. I wonder how the dogs will perform if the situation

deteriorates at this pace, " said an officer of the department.

 

The crumbling dog squad building consists of three rooms with a separate

enclosure for the mutts. The doors of the pens have been nailed to prevent them

from falling down.

 

" There have been several requisitions on our part for allocation of funds for

building maintenance but the money is yet to come, " said Mishra.

 

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1061218/asp/jamshedpur/story_7126525.asp