Kottayam: In a rare gesture, a retired police dog Salma, that was hailed as one of the most talented and friendly tracker canines in the dog squad under the Kottayam district police, was adopted by her handler.
It is for the first time in the history of the Kerala Police a retired dog has been adopted by its trainer.
Responding to a request from the dog's handler, K.V. Premji, state police chief Loknath Behera issued a special order allowing him to adopt the canine which has retired from active police duty recently.
Including Salma, as many as fourteen canines, who have completed the age of eight years, were relieved of their duties as part of a move to strengthen the dog squad by inducting younger pups.
The retired dogs have been shifted to the canine care center in Thiruvananthapuram. The department has made arrangements make them available for adoption by people.
Premji has been Salma’s handler ever since she was inducted into the squad in 2008. He had submitted a request to the DGP seeking permission to adopt Salma soon after her retirement process was completed. However, she had already been moved to the care center before the authorities concerned took a decision on his application.
As she was up for adoption, he feared that somebody else would come forward to take custody of Salma before the completion of the inter-departmental procedures.
Luckily, the police chief considered his request favorably without much delay and issued the historic order in December.
Premji has set up a modern kennel equipped with ventilators and fans at his home to accommodate Salma. A board carrying Salma’s official roll number ‘183’ is also displayed in front of the cage.
Salma was inducted into the Kottayam District Police Dog Squad when she was six months old.
She was an indispensable part of hundreds of criminal investigations while serving the police force for over eight years. She is also a five-time gold medal winner for the 'best tracker' at the State Police Duty Meet.
