Bruce has a nose for 'substance'

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At a glance, Bruce would come across as a regular

sniffer dog

trained by the police. But for the department, she has been the lone sniffer dog who was instrumental in

solving 6 cases

over the past nine months.

Among the 100 dogs trained by Kerala police, some were trained to be explosive sniffer dogs and the rest for tracking culprits from crime scenes. Only Bruce underwent rigorous training at

Kerala Police Academy

in Thrissur for nine months before being inducted as a sniffer dog. Bruce participated in the passing out parade held in April last year, after which she joined Idukki police.

It was K V Joseph (the then Idukki SP) and his team that proposed the idea of inducting a sniffer dog as Idukki is notorious for being the entry point for drugs in the state. Bruce was bought from a breeder in Kottayam and sent for training when she was four months old. She was accompanied by two handlers, who were trained to handle her.

"The training started with basic discipline and commands for three months. At the end of it, she had to undergo a test after which the formal training began. Initially, she was made to smell narcotics in larger quantity (which was slowly reduced) and locate it from different spots. The training ended with a test supervised by senior officers. Bruce cleared it at the first attempt," said civil police officer Renjith Mohan, one of her handlers.

Though Bruce would happily wag her tail when her keepers have food, she is kept on a diet and fed twice a day. Her meal comprises of packaged dog food, milk and eggs.

"Once she helped us track drugs hidden inside the steering box of a car. Taking a cue, we opened the box at a workshop and recovered the drugs. Her ability to trace the slightest of smell was proven when she helped us locate 50g of drugs that was hidden in the wallet of two youngsters," he added.

The state police has sent five more dogs for training at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Haryana to bolster the narcotics squad. "Bruce did not participate in the annual duty meet since she is the only sniffer dog. Once the squad strength increases, we would take her for the meet. We are confident that she would qualify for the national meet," said Somy Marcos, the second handler. Bruce and 14 dogs from the dog squad will be participating in the Republic Day parade in Thiruvananthapuram.