Canine and able

Mumbai: Mumbai airport strengthens its dog squads gets 10 German Shepherds on board to deter mob violence at airport.
Protests at the Mumbai airport have become a regular feature and with political parties joining hands with protesters, the outcome is often violent. Knowing that private security guards deployed at airports may fail to keep a mob under control, airport authorities have turned to canines for protection. They have engaged 10 more German Shepherds, taking the total number of dogs in their protection force to 20.
Doggie style: The security at the Mumbai airport boasts of 20 trained dogs comprising German Shepherds, Dobermans and Labradors. file pic
Confirming that additional dogs have been trained for the job, Ishant Sharma of Marshall Dog Training Centre, who rents out dogs to Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), said, "What the guards cannot do, these animals can. So on days of protests extra dogs will be on duty."
The most recent of the protests was seen on Tuesday by Shiv Sena workers under the banner of Bharatiya Kamgar Sena who were joined by a few activists from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (see box). Though they were up in arms against the Airport Authority of India (AAI) and the MIAL for transfer of its employees to other airports, the protests were subdued, thanks to the dog squad.
Somnath Ghuge, senior inspector, airport police station, said, "These dogs definitely create a scare and they supplement our presence."
15/05/09 Aditya Anand/MiD Day

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Categories: Airports May 2009