After Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat Police is the second Force in India to have an Old-Age Home for its Canines.
The dog home located at Anand was inaugurated by DGP Ashish Bhatia last month. It currently shelters 11 German Shepherds and Labradors who are K-9 unit veterans. The police dogs perform crucial tasks like sniffing out narcotics, playing important role in rescue operations during calamities, and securing venues for VVIP events.
These dogs work for the police for about 8-10 years after which they are retired and put up for adoption. However, prior experiences suggest that people are not that keen to buy retired police canines even though the initiative was promoted by the police hence to avoid an adoption situation, the Gujarat Government has created one of its kind old-age homes for police these dogs.
The targeted capacity of the old-age home is 100 dogs however in the first phase, 20 dogs will be kept. Police have tied up with the Veterinary Science University in Anand for a fortnightly check-up and a monthly blood test for the dogs.
