As tech fails, onus on ‘Spider’ to find big cat
With the latest gadgets failing to track the elusive Mylardevpalli leopard, the task of figuring out where the big cat could have disappeared fell on Spider, a four-and-a-halfyear-old Doberman, a sniffer dog with the Cyberabad police.
Spider, which had earlier played a critical role in the police’s investigations in the Disha rape and murder case, as well as an attempt to rape case a year before that on the University of Hyderabad campus, did not disappoint.
Eagerly pulling on its leash held by its handler M. Mahipal, the canine sleuth led a team of forest and police staffers from the farm compound into which the leopard had disappeared on Thursday, to the Mulagunda lake next to the Prof. Jayashankar
Agriculture University.
“All it needed was a good sniff at a pugmark that was found on the farm, and it was eager to track the path taken by the leopard,” Mahipal, Spider’s handler since the now enthusiastic grown up K9 was a mere pup, told Deccan Chronicle.
The first phase of the tracking hit a wall when Spider led the team to the farm’s compound wall. The leopard had clearly leaped over the wall.
“Once we left the compound through its gate, Spider picked up the scent and led the group across the main road towards the agriculture university,” Mahipal said.
After the failed efforts on Thursday to trace the injured leopard that created panic among the city residents, a tracker dog was sought and Spider was deputed by the police to assist the search teams.
Spider has been working with the Cyberabad police's dog squad to track suspects in incidents of murder, burglary and dacoity since 2018 after completing a tough eightmonth training at the Integrated Intelligence Training Academy in Moinabad.
“For the first time, Spider and I went to track a wild animal, and that too a leopard. I was excited and also very scared as I did not know how to escape or react if the leopard was around and chose to attack us. However, armed personnel from the forest department and from the police were with us and that gave me confidence. It is a duty after all and we have to take risks,” Mahipal, who recently got married, said.