The National Police Agency (NPA) yesterday said that the nation’s first electronics-sniffing police dog has completed its training in the US with the assistance of US law enforcement and an anti-trafficking group.
The two-year-old back Labrador named Wafer is capable of detecting concealed electronics, including phones, USB sticks and discs, through the scent of triphenylphosphine oxide, the agency said.
Wafer would be one of the three active electronics-sniffing dogs in Asia, with the other two canines being fielded by agencies in Thailand and Malaysia.
hoto courtesy of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles via CNA
It went through a gamut of courses during its two-week training wearing a collar bearing the Republic of China’s flag, the NPA said, adding that the dog is currently under quarantine in Taiwan and is expected to start its duties on Sept. 11.
Yang Li-jing (楊力靜), the NPA’s liaison officer on the US west coast, said that she saw an electronics police dog in action for the first time during a joint anti-trafficking operation with the US Homeland Security Investigations and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Impressed, Yang said that she sought out police dog training experts and was introduced to the anti-trafficking group Operation Underground Railroad by the sheriff’s department.
Yang said the group has provided US police agencies with nearly 100 electronics-sniffing dogs.
After inspecting Taiwanese law enforcement’s handling and treatment of police dogs, the group was satisfied that the nation’s animal welfare standard is compatible with that of the US, and donated Wafer to the NPA, she said.
The dog underwent training from July 31 to Aug. 11 at a canine school in Indianapolis, Indiana, which it completed without incident, Yang said.
Wafer had not always been destined for police work, she said, adding that it had originally been slated for training as a seeing eye or emotional support dog, but was rejected for being overenergetic.
However, Wafer’s playful nature and obedience to commands were deemed a good fit to be a police dog, Yang said.
During training, Wafer demonstrated an ability to locate electronics hidden in closets, grass, SUV trunks, or under a rock at the bottom of a river, she said.
Yang said she and her husband named the dog Wafer in honor of Taiwan’s world-leading semiconductor industry.
Police dogs in the program are often given interesting names, such as Satoshi, after the pseudonym of bitcoin’s inventor, Yang said.
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