Not many are aware of the K-9s or the Unit Pengesan they belong to and their contributions to the department, despite the fact that they have assisted in many of the department’s operations since its inception in 2002.
Speaking to FMT, the unit’s chief, Donny Chap explained that the unit comprised of 43 operations staff and 18 dogs, with the entire unit based at their headquarters in Old Klang Road.
The dogs, comprising English Springer Spaniels, Labradors and Border Collies, help in both Search and Rescue (SAR) and fire investigations throughout the country.
Recent high-profile cases in which the K-9 unit was called into action included the search for the missing Orang Asli children in Gua Musang and the helicopter crash which claimed the life of former Rompin MP Jamaluddin Jarjis last year.
“The English Springer Spaniels are used in fire investigations because they are really fast and small in size, making it easier for them to move around a fire scene and detect accelerants like petrol or kerosene and so on,” said Donny, who has been heading the unit for four years.
On the other hand, Labradors and Border Collies are used for SAR, particularly in urban disasters, cadaver searches and wilderness searches.
“Labradors are bigger, stronger dogs and have much more stamina, so they are used to look for survivors in urban disasters such as landslides and searches for cadavers, while Border Collies, which have a wider range of smell, are used to track missing persons in the wilderness.”
Donny said the dogs were trained by experts in the United Kingdom and acquired by the department when they were around two years of age, and would serve for an average of eight years.
“Each dog is assigned a handler and they not only have to work together, but the handlers are also responsible for grooming and training their dogs, as well as bathing the animals on a daily basis,” he said.
The dogs’ training regimes include preparing for various scenarios, from tracking and detection outdoors, to preparing for being transported in boats and helicopters.
At the moment, the K-9 unit is the sole unit of its kind in the department throughout the country, but Donny says there are plans to establish two more units in Sabah and Sarawak
“The dogs are valuable to the department, their strong sense of smell makes it easier to search for survivors fast, or to detect accelerants in a fire scene.”
“I consider the animals as firemen – they are heroes to me.”