K9 unit dogs to be bred locally
The head of the Namibian Police (Nampol) K9 training department, Chief Inspector Felix Munyanya, says their working dogs have been involved in a number of successful operations over the years.The K9 unit has been around since independence and has 29 working dogs on duty nationwide. They are deployed in either the Drug Enforcement Unit, the Explosives Control Unit, or for tracking and patrolling.
As part of their training, the police dogs conduct regular exercises with their handlers.
“The dog’s temperament usually dictates the department in which it is used,” Munyana says. Energetic and inquisitive dogs are used for drug control; cautious dogs are used in the explosives control department; and aggressive dogs are mostly used for crowd control and tracking.
Nampol has bought dogs from South Africa and Zimbabwe over the years, but now Nampol wants to breed them locally.
“We have received permission from the Ministry of Finance to breed, but we have not started breeding yet.” Breeding was scheduled to start last year, but the lack of funds has slowed down the process. Only ten regions in Namibia currently have K9 units, which should be improved by breeding them here.
Nampol spent N$2 million buying police dogs from South Africa over the past eleven years. The average police dog costs between N$70 000 and N$80 000. The dogs also often work longer hours than they should.
The head of the K9 training department emphasised that they can report many successes with the dogs. “In October 2021, for example, drug officers managed to sniff out N$1.56 million worth of cannabis in the //Kharas region.”