Sri Lankan police on Thursday launched an appeal for the public to donate their pet dogs to help the fight terrorism and crime on the war-torn island.
"Make your pet a hero... to curb terrorism and make our motherland Sri Lanka a country with a new facelift," the police department said in a public notice carried by the state-run Daily News.
It said donated dogs should be between six months and two years old and must have an impressive pedigree. German Shepherds, Labrador Retrievers, Rottweilers, Dalmatians, Cocker Spaniels and Doberman Pinschers are preferred.
Chief Inspector Lal Senavirathne said 25 people donated their pets Thursday, but only 18 dogs could be enlisted as the others did not meet the recruitment criteria.
He said the dogs would be trained to identify explosives, search for buried mines, sniff down narcotics, tackle criminals -- and even perform tricks for the public.
The dogs will retire after serving a maximum period of eight years and will be returned to their original owners.
"We already have 170 dogs deployed in 30 units, including the operational areas" or conflict areas in the island's north and east, Senavirathne told AFP by telephone from his headquarters in the central town of Kandy.
He said it was the first time they were making a public appeal because of pressure on the police kennels, which usually import about half of their annual requirement.
"In this batch, we hope to enlist about 50 dogs. They will be given six months extensive training and another six months on the job," he said. "Thereafter they will be officially called Police Dogs."
Sniffer dogs are already deployed for VIP security and to track down criminals.
Sri Lanka's dog population is estimated at 2.3 million in a country of 19.5 million people, and about 20,000 to 30,000 people are annually treated for stray dog bites.
The tropical island has been wracked by a bitter ethnic conflict since 1972. The fighting has claimed at least 60,000 lives.
