DOG DETECTIVES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 120, 13 February 1908, Page 9

DOG DETECTIVES.

' Th« authorities, at Scotland yard havo been seriously, .discussing .tho uso' of dogs as tho Mristablo s companion irid'help. ■ Sir Edward Honry, who. regards the innovation sympathetically, considers. tho only crucial' objection- to:bo. tho;setimental .prejudices of tho public., - . - • . ,-, '■'■ ,

Dpgs are used by the police in Berlin, 'Vienna, Paris, Brussels, New York, and .in all ;thov Continental, armies.:: \Tho ■ frontiers- arepatrolled by dogs,..and as a mark of-'tho growing .reputation of, tho official watchdog,' a committeo appointed by- tho French .Government < is now considering their -imporfa.tion.: Major ,Richardson, tho pionoer- trainer and;breeder, of theso clogs, has just- receiveda renuesfc' for -mora dogs for. Pcterhof, fot;, defending tho palico of tho Tsar and patrolling tho park, _ and two of his dog 3 -aro always konnolled in. the Sultan's palace at Constantinople.: , ... •:, !, -

. Two breeds of dogs arc used for two distinct purposes, • and, curiously : enough, 'tlio :]>est of■ ; both : aro bred in England,- almost, tho only nation that'does not use them. Tboy are used-for-'executive .worlc and for .criminal .work, and 1 tho'-favourite: sorts.:aro Airedales ahd eross-brecl bloodhounds. .- ■

' Scientific tests. prove that Airedales can hear, -roughly, MOOyds. i further' off than a man.- Hamburg statistics, just 'published,' chow; that the,-,minor offence's havo fallen siiico their- introduction , from 150 to five within a given.period,-' and burglaries have boon - much reduced .- 1 ' Tho dogs aro only tiswl' at night.- Th©y aro considered abroad'valu- • able ill-:towns,' but essential -in the ■'-'country. A list of police court'cases, rfcoived from Germany .contains tho''report -of- a "success' in',!two;departments:A-thief,' hidden, in a' garden,' was' found by- ail Airedale undei-; a small- bush after tho police had mado 'a- vaiiv search; and in the town a wriuld-bo murderer' .was.liuntod-down by a bloodhound: • ; .