DOTr to build canine training facility in Clark

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) will establish a canine school that will cater to the needs of government security forces.

DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade said a contract signing for the construction of the government-owned canine training facility at Clark Field in Pampanga is expected to happen before yearend.

“I will push it. I will see to it that the contract signing happens before the yearend for the construction to begin,” Tugade told The STAR.

Tugade said the dog center facility will be the government’s first national school for man’s four-legged best friend.

The dogs will serve the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police, the Philippine Coast Guard, the Bureau Customs and the Bureau of Immigration, as well as other agencies like the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), the Bureau of Fire of the Philippines (BFP), the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

The military and the police deploys its K9 units for bomb and firearms detection as well as for human tracking during pursuit operations.

Soldiers in the front enlist the services of their own-trained “Aspin” friends to forewarn them of dangers that lie ahead while out on foot patrol.

The PCG is also dependent on its K9 units for detecting explosives, narcotics and other contraband.

In the case of the MMDA, the agency’s disaster responders have been using dogs to sniff out victims trapped underneath collapsed structures or in landslide areas.

Government dogs that would be enrolled in the canine training school will be manned by experts. The dogs will undergo various training phases to develop their obedience and friendly skills before being moved to higher level detection training and other extra skills.

Currently, most government security agencies have their own pool of K-9 units and training center. But due to the shortfall of working dogs in their inventory, it has become a common practice by government agencies to source out the services of private security agencies. 

Usually privately-owned working canines, when hired, are paid much higher than their human handlers for reasons that acquiring, training and maintaining these working dogs are expensive.