Buddy, Kerala Police’s only national gold medallist, bids farewell to Kasaragod K9 squad
Kasaragod K9 Squad's explosive detection dogs, Buddy and Camy, retired after over a decade. Buddy notably won gold at the All India Police Duty Meet, a unique distinction.
Kasaragod K9 Squad's explosive detection dogs, Buddy and Camy, retired after over a decade. Buddy notably won gold at the All India Police Duty Meet, a unique distinction.
Kasaragod K9 Squad's explosive detection dogs, Buddy and Camy, retired after over a decade. Buddy notably won gold at the All India Police Duty Meet, a unique distinction.
Kasaragod: Two ace female explosive detection dogs, Buddy and Camy, of Kasaragod K9 Squad retired from service on Monday, September 21, after more than a decade of service.
Buddy, the 11-and-a-half-year-old Labrador, is the only dog from the Kerala Police to win gold at the All India Police Duty Meet in 2019.
Buddy and Camy, a 10-and-a-half-year-old Labrador, will spend their retirement at Vishranthi, the retirement home for police dogs at the Kerala Police Academy in Thrissur.
District Police Chief Nidhinraj P presented the dogs with garlands and shawls, while their handlers, Shijith R and Aneesh P, received their service trophies.
For Buddy, retirement comes after a career that brought a rare distinction to the Kasaragod squad and the Kerala Police.
In June 2019, she became the first dog from the Kerala Police to win a gold medal at the All India Police Duty Meet in Lucknow. She finished first in six categories- obedience, food resistance, luggage search, building search and ground search- to emerge as the national champion.
The achievement remains unique in Kerala Police's K9 history. Buddy is the only dog from the state to have won the national gold, competing against dogs trained by the CRPF, BSF, ITBP and Army, said Shibu K, a senior officer with the K9 Squad.
There was another unusual aspect to her championship. As the All India Police Duty Meet was not held in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Buddy retained her status as the reigning champion for three consecutive years, said Jins Joseph, a former handler.
She had already made her mark at the state level, winning gold for the Kasaragod squad at the State Police Duty Meet in 2017 and silver in 2018. After the Lucknow win in 2019, she received the Kerala Police Canine Award from the then Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Buddy, bought from Kasaragod, underwent a nine-month training at the Kerala Police Academy in Thrissur before joining the Kasaragod K9 squad on April 10, 2016.
Usually, K9 Squad dogs are retired after 10 years of service, but Buddy was given an additional year of service because of her good health and service record, said an officer.
Camy joined the Kasaragod squad on June 22, 2017, after six months of training at the Border Security Force's Centre for Dogs at Tekanpur in Gwalior district of Madhya Pradesh. The centre is one of the country's major dog breeding and training facilities.
Camy served the squad for more than nine years.
Explosive detection dogs have a demanding role in security operations. Their work involves clearing large areas before a VVIP convoy arrives, said Shibu. "So we trust our lives with them," said Shibu, the senior officer with the Kasaragod K9 squad.
Buddy's former handlers Ajesh K K and Manu P Cheriyan played a role during the years in which she won medals for the Kasaragod squad, said Shibu.
Former and present handlers spoke about the dogs they had worked with, while officers gathered around them for one final group photograph.