Canine squad to sniff out source of fires

Dubai: Dogs have always proved their loyalty for humans, but now they are even helping police in discovering the source of fires at fire sites in addition to helping in solving some pretty mysterious cases.

Major Abdul Salam Al Shamsi, director of Dubai Police's canine department, told Gulf News that currently there are two dogs which have been trained specifically to detect the sources of fires that break out at various sites.

He said the canine department works closely with the Forensic Department after putting out a fire to collect evidence and determine the source where the fire started from.

"The dogs give certain signs about the substance or the material that caused the fire. The search method depends on the site and its use and we train the dogs to search accordingly," Major Al Shamsi said.

He explained that the arson dogs' mission is to sniff out evidence at the arson scenes. Arson dogs can scan a large area in a record time compared to the time taken by humans or electronic devices, due to their strong sense of smell. Major Al Shamsi said the arson dogs go through basic training from two to six months before they are paired with handlers.

The dogs are usually trained to recognise explosive odours daily through food-and- praise-reward conditioning. The dogs are trained to associate the smell of gasoline with food and they are trained several times a day.

"Arson dogs are helpful tools which help investigators in finding the best spots to search and pick up evidence from, which also saves a lot of time, as time is a crucial factor in investigations," he said.

Breakthrough

He said Dubai Police started using arson dogs in 2005 and the dogs contributed to discovering the point where fires started at in many major blazes that broke out in Dubai.

Major Al Shamsi said the department has trained two arson dogs and will train two more soon.

"We are training these dogs locally and tapping local expertise in the training," he said.

Major Al Shamsi said dogs at Dubai Police's canine department helped in investigations of various cases including those involving fires and drugs.

There are currently a total of 75 dogs at the department and they are trained to carry out various security checks, discoveries and help in investigations.

"Police dogs generally have become an integral part of police investigations and the security organisations, as they are needed for sensitive jobs and have proved their success in solving many cases," Major Al Shamsi said.