The police need more dogs for the 2009 general elections and the 2010 Soccer World Cup, police Deputy National Commissioner Mala Singh said on Friday.
Singh asked the public to donate dogs to help double the number of canine crime fighters.
Specialised police services like police dogs play a critical role in policing, Singh said at a ceremony at the South African Police Service Roodeplaat Dog-Training School outside Pretoria.
She was speaking at a ceremony where four Star of Bravery medals were awarded to police dogs.
Of the four, only Bobbie, a dog of handler Inspector Lappies Labuschagne, was still alive to receive the medal.
Earlier this year, Bobbie was used when a man assaulted police officers with a spade and stabbed several of them with a sharp object. “Bobbie took the man down and held him down until we could restrain him,” Labuschagne said.
It was only afterwards that they found that Bobbie had sustained a skull fracture because he had been beaten over the head with the spade.
A veterinarian in Vryburg where the incident took place told Labuschagne that it was not possible to help Bobbie, but police veterinarians at Roodeplaat managed to save him and after three weeks he was back on the beat.
“You know you want to cry with anger and frustration; these dogs are there to help people, and he is my partner,” said Labuschagne.
The police currently have about 1Â 000 dogs and their handlers stationed across South Africa and they hope to double that number in the next few years.
Dogs needed include border collies, German and Belgian shepherds, boxers, Dobermanns, Labradors, bloodhounds and even cocker spaniels.
The dogs will be trained to be used in narcotics, explosives, protected-species detection, tracking, fire investigation and search-and-rescue operations.
The police are looking for dogs between the ages of nine months and three years.
Dogs that do not make the grade will be given to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and not sold at auctions as had been previously the case. — Sapa
Members of the public who want to donate dogs can contact the police between 8am and 3pm on weekdays on Tel:Â 012Â 808Â 8644