Dogs are the only animals that are closely related to humans. For the first time since World War II, the US Army deployed dogs in combat to carry out operations against the enemy. Even in India, the Indian army’s Dog Squad is the first responder in every anti-terror operation in Jammu and Kashmir. Dogs’ loyalty and battle ability are unparalleled, thus the canines are properly trained and then integrated into the troops.
Using dogs to identify mines and other explosive devices is a practice that has been in use for many years for both military and civil purposes. Still, it really gained attention with the advent of humanitarian mine action after the Cold War ended. The early mine action initiatives were inefficient and dangerous, partly because clearance organizations were still learning their trade and partly because they had few tools with which to work. A growing number of mine action programs began to employ dogs, albeit with inconsistent outcomes. Some organizations swear by them, while others swear at them. In this article, we will learn about the Indian Army Squad of Mine Detection Dogs.
Mine Detection Dogs
Before knowing about the Indian Army Dogs, who are really excellent at sniffing mines, let us know what exactly mine detection dogs do. Mine Detection Dog sometimes known as a sniffer dog, is a dog that has been taught to detect things such as explosives, illegal drugs, wildlife scat, cash, blood, and contraband devices such as unlawful mobile phones using its senses. The smell is the most commonly employed sense for detecting dogs.
Indian Army represents an organization of strong ethos and values, even a dog is considered as its very soldier as a normal human soldier in the whole organization. We have seen various army personnel roaming with different breeds. In fact, different breeds are kept to perform particular tasks, let us know about them.
German Shepherd/Belgian Malinois – German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois are the most commonly utilized canine breeds by the Indian Army because they have the finest overall mix of a keen sense of smell, endurance, speed, strength, courage, intelligence, and adaptation to nearly any climatic conditions. German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois are many used for guard duties and protecting an asset. They are so quick in their actions that they are often used in stealth. German Shepherds are really quick learners and they are used efficiently in solving various tasks.
Labradors– Labradors are the other type of breeds Used in the Indian Army. The main purpose of using Labradors is to detect mines and explosives in the field. Labradors are used for various other purposes like guard duty, patrolling, sniffing explosives including Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), mine detection, sniffing contraband items, including drugs, and attacking targets.
These dogs are trained so well that they do not bark at any random point in time, they only bark when they feel any abnormality in the environment or they have smelled any similar smell to any explosives or IEDs.
Dogs in the Indian Army
All of these dogs are trained at the RVC Centre and College in Meerut, where we have a training facility. Following training, these dogs are placed in dog units, the majority of which are deployed in the field. We continue to train them in accordance with operational requirements. They are fed a well-balanced diet that includes rice, milk, meat, vegetables, dog biscuits, and other vitamins. The Indian Army has about 27 dog units spread across the country. One unit consists of around 24 dogs. Some dogs are born at the RVC Centre, while others are brought in from elsewhere. The Indian Army selects and trains the best candidates after determining their suitability for the environment.
The Indian Army even offers special prizes for heroic pets. These canines have received the Chief of Army Staff Commendation Card, Vice Chief of Staff Commendation Card, and GOC in Chief Commendation Card for their performance throughout various operations.
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