Secunda K9 unit gets new ‘recruits’
A new trained explosives patrol dog and a new biological body fluid trace dog for the Secunda K9 Unit.
SECUNDA- The Secunda K9 unit is now two extra specialist teams stronger.
Const Comfort Shikwambano’s partner, Lara, is a three-year-old Belgian Malinois and is a trained explosives patrol dog.
She was imported from Belgium and trained by Const Shikwambano.
This team has had a lot of success, the most recent being on 11 February where Lara sniffed out two firearms in Kriel.
These two mostly operate in the Secunda Cluster.
“Lara is a very loving dog, but can become aggressive upon command,” said Const Shikwambano.
W/O Bongani Masilela’s partner, Dash, is an eight-year-old Labrador. They have been working as a team since 2013.
Dash is a biological body fluid trace dog. He can sniff out a single drop of blood or a minute sample of semen. He is one of only two biological body fluid trace dogs in Mpumalanga.
W/O Masilela and Dash operate in the entire province. One of their recent cases was a murder case of a woman in Badplaas, where Dash found her body. Their team effort led to the arrest of the woman’s murderer.
Before these cops take their dogs to a crime scene, the canines first have to get the chance to play around, so that when they are taken to the crime scene, they are focused on the job to sniff out evidence while taking care not to disturb the scene.
Each dog is trained to sniff out a certain kind of evidence, respectively body fluids and explosives. They are trained to sit close to the discovered evidence until their handler reaches them.
