Police dog loses ability to sniff out drugs

Forced to retire

The search is on for a new drugs sniffer dog crowdfunded by people on Orkney after the first lost its specialist ability.

Whisky was set to be unleashed on dealers this month but hold-ups meant the Orkney Drugs Dog recruit had lost his edge.

In October, just days before he had been due to start, his handler, Kevin Moar, twisted his knee during a fitness test – delaying the groundbreaking service by three months.

Mr Moar, 50, is now in post and raring to go.

But Andrew Drever, chairman of Orkney Drugs Dog, said the retiring Police Scotland dog was not.

“With everything that happened, he has not been on active duty for 12 weeks and no longer has the ability to smell drugs. He constantly needs to be on patrol.

“It is very frustrating, but we are now actively looking for another dog through police, RAF and other contacts. We have not found one yet, but we hope to have a dog in place, perhaps by next month.”

In September Whisky made his first swoop – even before his official start.

The dog was brought to Orkney for a two day introduction to meet the community with his handler PC Matthew Watson, who has since retired. He agreed to keep Whisky while new handler Mr Moar recovered.

But Whisky was involved in “enforcement activity” during his island visit after a search of two properties at Andersquoy in Kirkwall resulted in herbal cannabis valued at approximately £300 being seized.

The fully trained golden Labrador, had been enlisted from Police Scotland.

The sniffer dog move comes amid growing concerns about drug misuse on Orkney, where there has been a sharp rise in drug possession cases.

In 2016/17 there were just 29 but the following year this rose to 50. While supplying of drugs offences went from two to four.

A similar sniffer dog patrol scheme has operated on Orkney’s northerly neighbours of Shetland since 2001 in an effort to safeguard the islands from the growing problem of illegal drugs.

Its leaders have been advising campaigners on Orkney about setting up their own scheme.

The annual running costs are between £55,000 and £60,000.

“With all that’s happened he has not been on active duty for 12 weeks”

OFF DUTY: Whisky was to start work this month but lost his drug sniffing ability