Increasing involvement of dogs as part of security forces

More than four thousand police dogs will be deployed nationwide in China to fight violent and terrorist activities, a senior official from the ministry of public security said.

In the process of upgrading the national public security and counterterrorism operations, the number of police dogs is far from enough said cong min director of the police dog technical training department of the ministry’s criminal investigation bureau.

Currently there are fifteen thousand police dogs from seven different breeds working to combat crime with police officers. The breeds include German shepherds, Labradors and the Springer spaniel. Most of the breeds were imported from Europe.

Police officers will attend training with their canine partners to build rapport. After passing assessment tests, the dogs will be certified and deployed on missions.

The special training mainly includes searching for drugs, explosives, hunting and arresting suspects, conducting patrols and identifying suspicious orders, said cong.

The country is faced with an increasing number of terror related incidents nationwide. The ministry of public security in April initiated a year long crackdown on violent and terrorist attacks in china, especially in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Police dogs have been deployed to help police officers conduct armed patrols on the streets. They can be used to sniff out signs of criminal activity and hidden suspects.

Dogs with special training will also work with officers to handle emergencies.

Terrorist suspects often carry man-made explosive devices to launch their attacks, the ministry says that the dogs are able to find and eliminate these devices.

The ministry will also honor and reward police dogs that have made significant contributions to fighting terror.

When these canines become old or get injured in the line of duty, they will be cared for by the police and used to help training research. Retired dogs will can be adopted by their guardians or spend their remaining years at a training facility.

Since 2007 china has been offering regular police dog training to countries and regions including Laos, Pakistan, Hong Kong and Macao.

The country regularly invites leading experts from European countries to help train officers and their canine partners.

Questions:

1. How many dogs are currently in the police force?

2. How many different breeds of dogs are used as police dogs in China?

3. In what year did China start offering dog training and assistance to outside regions and countries?

Answers:

1. 15,000.

2. Seven breeds.

3. 2007.

The story is broadcast by Eric Jou.

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）