XN000022-1978-08-06 — Page 4

SUNDAY, AUGUST 6, 1978

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SUPERDOG HAS NOSE FOR DRUGS

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A SUPERDOG TRAINED TO SNIFF OUT DRUGS WILL SOON JOIN THE CUSTOMS AND EXCISE SERVICE.

THE DOG, NAMED DEWARS, IS A GERMAN BREED GIVEN TO THE HONG KONG CUSTOMS AND EXCISE SERVICE AS A GIFT BY THE UNITED STATES CUSTOMS DEPARTMENT.

DEWARS WAS RECENTLY BROUGHT BACK TO HONG KONG BY CUSTOMS INSPECTOR POON YEUNG-KWONG WHO WAS SELECTED TO RECEIVE DOG-HANDLING TRAINING IN THE U.S.A.

THE TWO-YEAR-OLD DOG WAS GIVEN 14 WEEKS OF INTENSIVE DRUG DETECTION TRAINING IN VIRGINIA LAST SUMMER AND GAINED THE TITLE OF +SUPERDOG+ FOR HIS EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE IN TWO ADVANCED TESTS.

THE STANDARD OF THE TESTS IS SO HIGH THAT ONLY ONE IN 129 DOGS UNDERGOING TRAINING IN THE UNITED STATES SUCCEEDED IN PASSING THE TEST.

DEWARS, WHO WAS QUARANTINED AT THE GOVERNMENT KENNEL SHORTLY AFTER HIS ARRIVAL IN HONG KONG, HAS NOW JOINED OLIVER', HIS TEAM-MATE, TO FIGHT AGAINST DRUG TRAFFICKING.

BEFORE HIS RELEASE FROM QUARANTINE, DEWARS WAS GIVEN A REFRESHER COURSE AT THE CUSTOMS AND EXCISE TRAINING SCHOOL AT TAI LAM CHUNG TO SHARPEN HIS SENSE IN ANTI-DRUGS WORK.

INSPECTOR POON REVEALED THAT THE CUSTOMS AND EXCISE SERVICE HAS A PLAN IN HAND, PENDING FOR THE GOVERNMENT'S APPROVAL, TO EXPAND ITS DOG UNIT TO ASSIST CUSTOMS OFFICERS IN THEIR DRUG DETECTION WORK.

HE SAID: +ONCE THE PLAN IS APPROVED, WE WILL TRAIN OUR DOGS LOCALLY WITH ALL THE EXISTING EXPERTISE AND FACILITIES.+

INSPECTOR POON POINTED OUT THAT ONCE A DOG IS PROPERLY TRAINED, IT CAN EASILY SNIFF OUT DRUGS CONCEALED IN ANY OBJECT WITH FALSE COMPARTMENTS.

*ANOTHER MERIT OF A TRAINED NARCOTICS DOG IS THAT IT CAN WORK MUCH FASTER THAN A MAN IN SEARCHING PASSENGERS' LUGGAGES FOR DRUGS. IT CAN INSPECT ABOUT 500 ITEMS OF LUGGAGES OR PARCELS

IN 30 MINUTES WHILE IT TAKES MUCH MORE TIME FOR A CUSTOMS OFFICER TO COMPLETE THE WORK, HE SAID.

ACCORDING TO STATISTICS RELEASED BY INTERPOL, DOGS HAVE PLAYED A MORE IMPORTANT ROLE IN NARCOTICS DETECTION WORK IN THE PAST FEW YEARS.

THIS HAS LED TO THE USE OF MORE DOGS BY LAW-ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. THERE WERE 945 DOGS IN 35 COUNTRIES TRAINED IN THIS KIND OF WORK IN 1975 COMPARED WITH 251 IN 13 COUNTRIES IN 1971.

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