Sniffer dog 'Irina' receives farewell by Chennai customs department

Irina was brought to Chennai customs department after her 10-month training in 2022. She retired following her illness and would be sent to a rehabilitation centre in Punjab. Two more sniffer dogs are being brought here taking the strength of the unit to four.

Chennai: After working at the Chennai airport customs department's K-9 squad since 2022, sniffer dog Irina retired following her illness. Two sniffer dogs are being brought from Punjab in her place following which the unit will have four dogs. The existing two sniffer dogs are Oreo and Arlie.

According to customs officials, three-year-old Irina was an expert in sniffing drugs but had fallen ill for the last few days. Despite this she was working hard but the customs officials were very worried about her health condition. The zoologists and animal medicine experts examined Irina and recommended that she should rest. Following their advice, Irina was ordered compulsory retirement on the evening of October 31. She was given a farewell by the customs officials before being sent to the central Sniffer Division in Punjab, a rehabilitation centre for retired and sick dogs.

The sniffer dog unit was launched in Chennai airport customs department in December 2021. Soon, Oreo and Arlie, one-year-old sniffer dogs, arrived at the sniffer dog unit. Oreo was found to be adept in sniffing drugs and Arlie in detecting hazardous materials including explosives.

In view of the frequent incidents of narcotics being smuggled from foreign countries, another sniffer dog, Irina joined the unit in 2022 after completing her 10-month training. Since then, the three sniffer dogs have been working very well in the customs section of Chennai airport.

In Punjab's Attari, there is a special training centre for sniffer dogs and after completing their training they are deployed by the Customs, Central Industrial Security Force, Border Security Force, Central Reserve Security Force and Railway Security Force.

It is said that zoo enthusiasts and social activists can adopt Irina by submitting proper documents if they wish. Meanwhile, two one-year-old sniffer dogs, who have already undergone 10-month training at the Sniffer Training Centre in Attari, Punjab, are about to arrive at Chennai airport customs department taking the sniffer dog unit's strength to four.