NEW DELHI: Five-year old Vast and three-year old Denby – the two Belgian Malinois K9 ‘soldiers’ of the CRPF – will be part of the 10 K9 squads, comprising the dogs and their handlers, assigned to be part of the security paraphernalia at Paris Olympics beginning next week.
The 10 dogs – drawn from different central armed police force (CAPFs) including the CRPF, NSG, SSB, ITBP – will be in Paris for a month until August 11, carrying out sniffing and patrolling duties under the overall supervision of the French authorities handling security of all Olympics venues and events.
The K9 teams have been deputed for the Olympics assignment on the request of the French govt. This is the first international deployment of an Indian K9 unit drawn from the CAPFs, for purposes other than disaster relief.
Like Vast and Denby, the dogs for the Paris Olympics security squad have undergone stringent training and special conditioning for their foreign assignment. Their trainers too are said to have been put through basic familiarisation with French language.
“Vast and Denby were trained at the dog breeding and training school of the CRPF at Taralu near Bengaluru. They were also put through conditioning for carrying out sniffing, search and patrolling duties as part of the Paris Olympics security squad,” a senior CRPF officer told TOI.
The K9 teams got a warm welcome in Paris from Indian ambassador to France and Monaco, Jawed Ashraf, who posted a photo of their meeting with the post: “Proud to meet 10-member K9 unit from India, for a month in Paris to support Security for #ParisOlympics2024. Our K9 stars & handlers doing well after travel from India; quickly on the job for National Day”. He remarked that he had got a nice handshake as well from the CAPF canine soldiers.
Belgian Shepherd Malinois dogs are known for their agility, strength and stamina, and are valued as police dogs for their dexterity, intelligence and eagerness to please. They were instrumental in detecting the hideout of al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan before he was killed by the US Navy Seals and had also chased down IS head Abu Bakr Baghdadi in a tunnel in Idlib before he was killed.
The 10 dogs – drawn from different central armed police force (CAPFs) including the CRPF, NSG, SSB, ITBP – will be in Paris for a month until August 11, carrying out sniffing and patrolling duties under the overall supervision of the French authorities handling security of all Olympics venues and events.
The K9 teams have been deputed for the Olympics assignment on the request of the French govt. This is the first international deployment of an Indian K9 unit drawn from the CAPFs, for purposes other than disaster relief.
Like Vast and Denby, the dogs for the Paris Olympics security squad have undergone stringent training and special conditioning for their foreign assignment. Their trainers too are said to have been put through basic familiarisation with French language.
“Vast and Denby were trained at the dog breeding and training school of the CRPF at Taralu near Bengaluru. They were also put through conditioning for carrying out sniffing, search and patrolling duties as part of the Paris Olympics security squad,” a senior CRPF officer told TOI.
The K9 teams got a warm welcome in Paris from Indian ambassador to France and Monaco, Jawed Ashraf, who posted a photo of their meeting with the post: “Proud to meet 10-member K9 unit from India, for a month in Paris to support Security for #ParisOlympics2024. Our K9 stars & handlers doing well after travel from India; quickly on the job for National Day”. He remarked that he had got a nice handshake as well from the CAPF canine soldiers.
Belgian Shepherd Malinois dogs are known for their agility, strength and stamina, and are valued as police dogs for their dexterity, intelligence and eagerness to please. They were instrumental in detecting the hideout of al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan before he was killed by the US Navy Seals and had also chased down IS head Abu Bakr Baghdadi in a tunnel in Idlib before he was killed.