South Wales Police celebrates 50 years of dog section and search dogs awards

Today South Wales Police celebrates 50 years of its dog section. The dog section in Bridgend is home to 74 operational dogs and their dedicated team of handlers. Listening to the cacophony of gruff barks reverberating around the school, it's hard to believe that in 1960 just four dogs resided here. It's almost 50 years to the day that four German Shepherd pups arrived at the South Wales Police kennels, oblivious to the legacy they would leave behind at the end of their working lives. Bruce, Bess, Carl and Cora (the latter two hailing from Edinburgh City Police) were just four-months-old when they began their long and successful careers as the first SWP dogs. From this young age, the new recruits underwent numerous training courses with their fledging handlers before becoming fully operational. From the evidence of cases reported during 1960, it seems that the dogs took to their duties with ease. Despite being just six-months-old and only partially trained, Carl was responsible for the arrest of three men stealing Christmas Trees in Tonyrefail during December 1960. The dog section began to expand, and the skills the animals could bring to the police increased with the introduction of explosive search dogs in 1969. There are now around 380 explosive dogs in the UK. Following the terrorist attacks in London and New York, major work was undertaken in the detection of liquid explosives. In 2007 South Wales Police rolled out the training for this threat at a national level, and in the process secured the forces' reputation as one of the most respected and influential dog sections in the UK. Sergeant Ian Roderick said: "We took responsibility for drugs dogs from the force drug Squad in 1991, and introduced firearms detection soon after. Currency detection was then developed in 2002, and in 2008 we successfully trained a dog in passport detection for the Immigration Service." The dog section has become an irreplaceable and vital asset to the policing team, and it seems that our loyal companions look set to continue this success well into the future of the force: "Our most recent ground-breaking work is the training of dogs to detect mobile phones and SIM cards for Her Majesty's Prison Service," says Ian. As the anniversary looms, the achievements of the South Wales Police Dog Section are certainly something to bark about - now more than ever before. SARDA South Wales Search Dogs Yesterday two South Wales charities, SARDA South Wales Mountain Rescue Search Dogs and Four Paws Animal Rescue (South Wales), came together at the Out of the Woods Festival in Cardiff's Bute Park to award the first annual trophy for the Best Rescue Dog in Four Paws' dog show. Chris Daw is a trainee dog handler with SARDA South Wales and adopted his trainee search dog Murphy from Four Paws Animal Rescue. Murphy was a rescue dog fostered by Four Paws Animal Rescue, and adopted at around six months old by Chris specifically to become a Search and Rescue dog. Chris said: "The idea for this trophy came about from the close relationship SARDA South Wales and Four Paws Animal Rescue have built up over the past year since I adopted Murphy. Four Paws work tirelessly across South Wales rescuing, fostering and rehoming dogs, cats and other animals, and the trophy is both a recognition of the superb work they do, and also the act of rehoming a pet in need that so many people make." Penny Bowers of Four Paws said: "Four Paws Animal Rescue have fostered and re-homed many animals across South Wales, and Murphy is just one of our many success stories. His is a lovely story, going from rescue dog to Search and Rescue dog, but it is important to remember that there are many dogs of all breeds who need the support of charities like Four Paws Animal Rescue. This trophy celebrates not just Louie our lucky winner of Best Rescue Dog here today, but also the thousands of pets of all kinds successfully re-homed each year." The trophy was awarded by Tori James, patron of SARDA South Wales, to Louie and his owner Amy. Louie is 3 years old, who Amy rescued from Four Paws.