30/7 Tass 118
MOSCOW, July 30 (Itar-Tass) —— The Russian police plan to use more working gods in their everyday service.
The number of patrol and guard dogs will increase by 40 percent in 2011-2013, Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev said on Saturday, July 30.
He believes that dogs should be used more actively for patrolling purposes in public places and examining vital facilities for possible terrorist activities.
“Despite technological progress and a broad use of modern special equipment by police and security services, working dogs are still needed. Their unique kills allow them to perform tasks where people fail. Sometimes only dogs can find well-hidden drugs or explosives,” the minister said.
The Interior Ministry has 25 regional canine centres and 86 canine service centres, which employ about 14,000 people. The Interior Ministry has about 12,000 working dogs. They helped solve more than 39,000 crimes in the first half of this year alone, including 629 murders, 21,495 thefts, 1,373 robberies, 1,054 crimes involving illegal use of explosives, arms and ammunition, and 6,229 drugs-related crimes.