“They don’t pay attention to gunshots and explosions” – Leonid Kotov, head of the canine center of the police of the Donetsk region, told about the work of service dogs and the peculiarities of training in conditions of active hostilities.
Today, 16 dogs serve in the police of Donetsk region. They look for weapons and explosive devices, drugs and people on their scent trail. Tailed assistants go on combat missions, they are the first to enter de-occupied areas for demining as part of explosive teams. In addition, they are on duty at checkpoints and work together with the military law enforcement service.
Cynologists are on duty 24/7: both perform police functions and train pets. Training in war conditions has its own specificity – it is the acquisition of combat experience. Four-legged defenders are taught to work without reacting to such stimuli as shots, explosions.
“This is both work during shelling and work in the trenches – when everything around is in fragments. Such training helped a lot during the de-occupation of Sviatohirsk and Lyman,” Leonid Kotov notes.
For two years in a row, service dogs of the Donetsk region police have been recognized as the best in the “Search for explosive objects” nomination. Labrador sisters Kira and Ira, who helped demining Sviatohirsk and Liman, received the prestigious prize from the Kennel Union of Ukraine “Four-legged Defenders”.
Since the beginning of 2023, service dogs have helped solve 61 crimes. With the participation of tailed “detectives”, the police seized 157 explosive devices, about 10 kg of explosives, 1,500 cartridges, 4 weapons, as well as 10 kg of marijuana and over a kilogram of synthetic drugs. Thanks to canine experts, the remains of two people were found.
Headquarters of the National Police in Donetsk region
