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Search forDerbyshire police's latest canine recruits are ready for action
Tuesday, August 26, 2008, 08:30
From today, Bud and Tzar, a Labrador and spaniel, both 18 months old, will use their highly-trained snouts to help search places for anything from cannabis to cocaine.
And, after weeks of testing possible new canines, the force is certain that it has the best noses for the job.
Trainer PC Adrian Deegan said he looked at more than 100 dogs before picking the pair, which bring the total number of drugs sniffer dogs in Derbyshire to eight.
He said: "I've been looking for about six months. It's not just energy and drive but a willingness to search that I'm looking for.
"You don't want a dog losing interest when they could be searching for hours or have a problem with something like slippery floors. A lot of the time you can tell within minutes if they aren't going to be good enough."
Last week, Bud, Tzar and their handlers, PC Dave Crilley and PC Nick Dachtler, went through the last of their training – ready to start carrying out drugs searches.
And when the Evening Telegraph watched them at work, they were an impressive sight.
Set the task of finding cocaine and cannabis hidden in the derelict Herbert Strutt School, Belper, both dogs finished the job within 15 minutes.
Each time they recognised a substance by barking or pawing, they were rewarded with an incentive such as a few minutes of play with a chew-toy.
But during training, it was clear that the job was reward enough for Bud and Tzar, whose tails wagged frantically as they sniffed radiators and cupboards.
PC Deegan said: "They absolutely love it. It's a fantastic life for a dog.
"And it's a great job for the handlers too because they are obviously dog fans."
Both Bud and Tzar live at home with their handlers, in kennels provided by the police force.
PC Crilley said he was looking forward to starting work with his new pet.
He said: "We could get called out anywhere between four or five times a week.
"My relationship with the dog is already great. He's one of the family.
"Every dog is different so you don't know what to expect but I think that will make the job much easier."
In the past five years, contrary to the trend with cannabis, seizures of harder drugs in Derbyshire have remained relatively steady.
While seizures of cannabis plants rose from 4,279 to 7,235 between 2006 and 2007, the number of heroin seizures was 648 in 2002-3 falling to 272 in 2006-7.
The number of seizures of highly-addictive crack cocaine was 85 in 2002-3, compared to 82 four years later.
In 2007, police uncovered 121 cannabis farms, with an estimated 80 found so far this year.
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