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This is the story of Richy, a female German Shepherd, and many dogs like her who relentlessly work to save lives of other people throughout their lives and die unsung and unheard…

Richy belonged to the Police Dog Squad and had served the citizens of Mysore for 11 long years. She had helped to solve many cases of crimes.

Richy was born on October 22, 2000. Her training began when she was a small puppy of three months and it continued for 11 months.

The Police Dog Squads are trained to do operational searches which include explosives, narcotics and retrieving.

Richy successfully performed her duties as an efficient Police Dog. In the theft that took place on the hills of Mahadeshwara, she traced the thief and the jewellery stolen by him around 4 kms below the hill.

Similarly, she had helped solve a murder case in Kollegal. She helped the Police in combing the area where brigand Veerappan had camped and trekked, from the scent of the articles left behind.

Finally, after all the years of service, she was retired and sent to the animal shelter run by People For Animal (PFA).

When Richy could finally sit back and relax without having to sniff, crawl, hunt, trace, she died. It is tragic that she died just three days into her retirement. Since the day of her birth, she rested only three days in her life.

Unlike Richy, another dog Laika from the Explosives Detection Department got lucky. Like Richy, she retired from the service a few months ago but has been re - homed successfully. Laika is now leading a stress - free life in her old age.

The Police loved her so much that Laika was retired with a Police Guard of Honour and tears by one and all.

Cannot adopt Police dog:
Former military personnel can be employable after their service but unfortunately this rule does not apply to Police dogs.

Police dogs cannot be adopted after retirement. This could be because of the skills that they have acquired which could be misused by the new owner.

Many feel that it would be beneficial if the retirement age of Police dogs were reduced; which means if they are retired at about 8 or 9 years of age, they will have a few good years left to relax.

Also pension should be provided for these working Police dogs so that the handlers or willing dog lovers can take care of them.

Savitha Nagabhushan
Courtesy: Star of Mysore

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