Posted on December 20, 2009 by: WayCoolDogs

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Since 1989 the Mine Detection Agency in Afghanistan, operated before the present day Taliban gained power, using special-trained dogs of Afghanistan to clean dangerous mines and unexploded bombs from the country. Today, their agency in Afghanistan operates with more than 300 dogs who have been bred in the agency, special-trained since their birth.

Statistics show us that special-trained dogs operating in the Mine Detection Agency of Afghanistan can clear war fields more reliably and faster than traditional-used mine clearance tools. This is very important in an area where fighting is not only difficult and unique, but involves one of the most heavily-mined countries in the entire world.

“We have cleared 60 percent of the country,” said Dr. Mohammad Shohab Hakimi, the director of the Mine Detection Center in Kabul, referring to the Mine Action Program in Afghanistan, overseen by the United Nations. The program is focused on locating and disabling mines planted during the war with the Soviet Union (1979-89) and the era of mujahideen fighting that followed in the 1990s. (“Afghanistan’s Dogs of War”)

BACKGROUND ON MINE-TRAINED DOGS IN AFGHANISTAN

When the dogs first came to the bomb center to be trained, they had originally come from Thailand, so understood only commands in the Thai language. Next, they came from Germany so the dogs could be trained in the German language. Presently, the breeds used are German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois as both breeds are known for an exceptionally acute sense of smell. Both breeds are bred in Kabul near the bomb center, a division which can receives financial grants from several foreign governments.

Deployed in Afghanistan are 107 stationed at the training center while 151 are spread across country. Beginning at birth, their training begins immediately and ends at nine years of age where they are retired. Among the 1,700 Afghan staff employed at the center are technical experts, field workers, de-miners, paramedics, veterinary experts, and instructors who focus on both personnel and, of course, dogs.

SOURCES:

Afghanistan Crossroads – “Sniffing out explosives”

MSNBC – “Afghanistan’s Dogs of Wars”

K9 Global Training – “Demining Dogs”

“The Challenges of Integrating Mine Dogs into Humanitarian Demining”

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