Top K9s on show at champs in PE
THESE are the real top dogs among us. South Africa’s elite police dogs will be demonstrating their skills when the National Police K9 Championships are held in Port Elizabeth next week.
The event will be a spectacle of the country’s top K9s battling it out as they are taken through their paces.
About 81 dogs will be arriving for the event.
The championships take place at the sports field bordering the Boardwalk in Second Avenue, Summerstrand, from Tuesday.
The police have a variety of specialist dogs used in specific categories including detection of fire, explosives, endangered species, blood and currency, and as patrol and attack animals.
The competition is the first of its kind to be held in Port Elizabeth.
Provincial commander Colonel Vimla Moodley said yesterday about 140 police dog handlers and commanders from all provinces would descend on the city for the event.
“All the K9s and their handlers will compete for the title of best dog and most well trained in the police in the entire country,” she said.
“These are some of our elite K9 specialist dogs from various divisions, such as search and rescue and the Presidential Protection Unit.
“Dogs that specialise in sniffing out counterfeit money will be sniffing out fake notes while the tracking dogs will be going through the bushes tracking people on the run.”
Port Elizabeth K9 Unit commander Lieutenant Colonel Chris Marais said some situations were comparable to real-life scenarios.
“The patrol dogs will be taking down and tackling ‘suspects’ who are on the run and trying to evade arrest.
“In some scenarios the officers will be under attack and the dog has to disarm and tackle the perpetrators.”
Several anti-crime operations have been planned in the city next week, making use of all the dogs.
The event takes place from 9am to 5pm daily from Tuesday to Thursday. The teams will practice on Monday.