The Ministry of Finance is seeking volunteer families to foster 19 Labrador puppies that will train to become drug detection dogs, the Customs Administration said on Tuesday.
Customs Administration Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ling-yuan (謝玲媛) said of that nine of the puppies were born to Echo, a sniffer dog, and are the first puppies of an artificial insemination program for duty dogs that receives assistance from the US.
Echo’s litter includes three males and one female. One of the puppies has a chocolate colored coat, while the other puppies and the mother are black.
Photo courtesy of the Customs Administration
Brodie, another sniffer dog, had a litter of 10 pups.
Detection dogs must be socialized to be desensitized to large crowds and loud noises, which is why puppies between two months old to one year old are usually raised in foster homes, Hsieh said.
The administration pays for dog food, medical treatment, vaccinations and other costs and volunteer families can temporarily return the dog to the Customs Administration for boarding if they are traveling, for the duration of which the administration assumes responsibility for care and related costs, she added.
To qualify as a foster owner, all members of the volunteer household must be dog lovers, should live south of Taoyuan and north of Yunlin County and must have an enclosed property with fences more than 1.5m high to keep the dog inside, Hsieh said.
The administration said the nation has 34 detection dogs on active duty, and between Jan. 1 last year and Jan. 14 this year, the dogs discovered 1.2 tonnes of ketamine, 40kg of marijuana and 3kg of heroin, with an estimated value of NT$1.14 million (US$33,785), NT$50.96 million and NT$24.63 million respectively, in addition to smaller quantities of other illicit drugs, such as amphetamines and cocaine.
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