Police put up dogs for auction today

Kenya Police has put up for sale 18 elite guard and sniffer dogs.

The five different breeds of dogs will be sold during an auction to be conducted by Taifa Auctioneers Tuesday at the Lang’ata K-9 headquarters starting at 10am.

The canines on sale include a Rottweiler whose starting price is Sh7,000, six English Spaniel dogs with a reserve price starting at Sh5,000, four Boerboel dogs with a reserve price of Sh9,000, four Labradors at between Sh5,000 to Sh10,000 and four German Shepherds selling at between Sh5,000 to Sh8,000.

The Kenya Police Dog Unit that opened doors in 1948 in Nanyuki uses different dogs for patrol, tracking firearm and drugs and explosives detection.

The German Shepherds first introduced in Kenya in the 1950s are mostly guard dogs used for crowd control, protection services as well as tracking, just as Rottweilers introduced in Kenya in 2004.

The English Springer Spaniels mainly trained for explosive and narcotic detection by Kenya Police since 2006 have proved useful at VIP functions, airports and at ports.