PARACHUTE PERIL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 145, 20 June 1940, Page 5

PARACHUTE PERIL.

PLAN TO USE DOGS. ALWAYS VIGILANT AND ALERT. LARGE NUMBERS AVAILABLE. (Special.—By Air Mail.) LONDON, May 25. England's plans to fight the parachute menace may include the use of dogs. The animals would be trained to watch for invaders, declared Colonel E. A. Richardson, advocate of the scheme, this week. In the last war he trained 2000 dogs for war service as sentries arid messengers. Several months ago he offered to do similar work again. The War Office,

he said, still have the matter "under consideration." "To tackle this new menace dogs would be invaluable," he suggested. "They would be specially useful in cases where they are accustomed to going out with their masters, such as gamekeepers, in the course of their regular work. "A dog never falls asleep on duty whatever a man may do. The best varieties for i the purpose would be animals of medium size, like airedales, lurchers, sheepdogs, rough collies and Alsatians." Colonel Richardson is confident that if the authorities decided to use doge in this way, or in other war work, he colli"! easily "mobilise" large numbers. "Tht public would respond swiftly as they d'u before, if an appeal were made," he said. He has been supplying watch-dogs to factories since the war began. The dogc are being employed in places where it is ■specially necessary that secrets 3hould ! not be discovered.