HOW FOREIGN POLICE DOGS WORK.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 75, 24 April 1909, Page 3

HOW FOREIGN POLICE DOGS WORK.

MATS 01" ANIMAL CRIME INVESTIGATORS. It seem* rather ciuious. in view of the fact that France, Sei-many, and | Belgium have proved the value of dog* as police assistants, that the authortics in this country do not ta\e very ki ::lh to the idea of employing bloodhound;' to help in the work of tracking criminals. And yet there are times when a good dog would prove of inestimable service to the police. j A burglary is committed at a country house, for instance, and ill many canes J tile police are not informed until an hour or two after. In the meantime! the criminal has got a good start and will probably get clear away ere the police have found dues which will place them upon his track. It would only bo a matter of minutes, however, before a bloodhound got upon the scent, and il he did not actually find the 'criminal be would quickly provide the police with clues which Mould lead to his capture.

A COMMON .MISTAKE, One of the objections to th ■ use of dogs in such cases often advanced is that the criminal in this country always makes for the nearest railway-station, thus rendering the animal practically useless. "But it is not always cafe to jump to this conclusion," says Major E H, Richardson, the well-known trainer Of tracking dogs, in ail interesting article in the Times. On one occasion a burglary was committed, and the police supposed that thcHhief had gone off by the first morning train, especially as a strange man bad been seen at the station. It was found afterwards th.it he had done nothing of the sort, but had struck inland on foot. A dog brought to the scene would have given the right direction and saved much waste of time and expense. One reason, perhaps, why the English police authorities do not follow the example of the Continental countries mentioned is that the criminal abroad is of a different type from what we have in Britain. The foreign thief usually carries firearms or a knife, and does not hesitate to attack the policeman who tries to capture him. .

. SAVAGE TRACKERS. It is for this reason that the dogs used by the police of Brussels, for instance, are some of the most savage ilajor Richardson has seen. They are muzzled 'when on duty with the policf? at night, and the muzzles are only slipped when in pursuit of a criminal. And woe betide the latter when lie is caught. The Brussels dogs, however, which are of tjie black sheep-dog -.breed, are not very good trackers, neither are those of Ghent, where the police have a splendid show of dogs, all of savage disposition, and invaluable for seizing ft man running away. The Brunswick police dogs, too, ar« verv clever at thig kind of work, and are*better trackers than those of Brussels or Ghent. The following incidents furnish striking illustrations of how the Brunswick dogs assist justice. SAVED AS IXXOCEXT MAX.

A girl had been murdered in a farmhouse. A police dog was taken to the girl's room, where the crime took place. -After it had scented about the 'bloodstained floor the farm hands were paraded. The dog rushed at one of them, growling savagely. The man was arrested, and on being examined his clothes were found to be stained with a spot of blood. He then confessed. Another case Major Richardson found to be true was the innocence of a man being proved by a dog. A girl had bee-.i found drowned, and, as certain circumstances appeared suspicious, a man was arrested. The dog, on being taken to the "irl's room, took up her trail and showed where she had walked down to the river. Her footsteps were single all the way. and this was taken as conclusive that it was a case of suicide, not murder; and afterwards a letter was found written by the girl _ announcing her intention to commit suicide.

POLICE PETS. 11l B.rlin the police dogs arc not kept i-, an establishment together, but are boarded out separately 'with policemen who receive sixty marks per annum for the keep of each dog. These dogs aie sent to all -parts of Germany to■ .i*<i» in criminal investigation. A headquarters, and the dog stait» 11 charge of a policeman -without delaj. In many cases the authorities do not wait fc- a wir «- I,ut ' 011 lll ' arlll -" of crime, despatch the dog to the scene,Tit Bits.