Local families adopt retired bomb dogs
Print Edition
K-COOL, a former bomb dog, is enjoying his retirement at a new home after eight years of service at the Shanghai World Financial Center, his former employer said during a visit yesterday.
The nine-year-old Labrador and another three (one Labrador and two golden retrievers), the latest bomb sniffers to retire from the skyscrapers, were adopted by four caring families last week.
There are more than 300 bomb dogs serving in strategic places such as major commercial buildings, Metro stations and airports, sniffing out danger that cannot be detected by humans.
However, only Shanghai World Financial Center accepts applications to adopt the retired canines from members of the public.
Despite requirements including having a suitable shelter and previous experience with dogs, more than 30 families in the city applied to adopt the four “veterans” this year, and the number was shortlisted to eight in the final round.
The final decision was made by the dogs themselves, who picked their desired family from the group of applicants.
“We want to make sure the dogs are well treated and can enjoy a good life during their retirement,” Shen Anmin, deputy manager at Shanghai Zhongbao Hua’an Longgen K-9 Service, told Shanghai Daily.
The company has a care center for the retired dogs, and trainers may also apply for internal adoption when their partner dogs retire. However, many local residents are also keen to adopt them.
In 2013, the company and Shanghai World Financial Center decided to pick one of four retired bomb dogs to be the first to be adopted on a trial basis.
“Mao Mao is now living happily with her new master, which encourages us to open the application process for all of the four retired sniffers this time,” said Xu Jinyan, an officer with the building.
Carrie Wu, 30, is one of the four lucky families picked by the dogs last week. She is living with her husband on Luheng Road, where the residential community offers a beautiful environment for K-cool to play.
“K-cool had worked hard for a long time. We adopted him not for him to accompany us, but hoping to accompany him for the rest of his life,” Wu said.
Like other bomb dogs, K-cool began to receive training when he was a year old and started his career about six months later.
According to Shen, most of the dogs will retire at age eight or nine. The 26 bomb dogs serving the skyscrapers work for about three days a week and rest for 30 minutes between every 90-minute shift, ensuring that no explosives or other dangerous materials are brought into the 492-meter building.
“We take him for a walk for about an hour in the morning and another two hours in the evening,” Wu said. “The night part is mostly for him to hang out with other dogs in the community.”
During the visit, Shen and a vet checked K-cool’s health and advised the young couple on how to better take care of the sniffer, including diet and useful training skills to ensure good behaviour.
Meanwhile, the city’s Metro police bomb dog team is also considering accepting adoption applications from local residents in future.
The team currently has more than 150 bomb dogs patrolling the city’s Metro network, mostly Labradors and springers.
“We’ve been receiving many inquiries. The plan is still under discussion,” said Song Shichao, an officer with the team.
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