THE Police Dog Unit (PDU) is looking for a few good families and dog walkers to adopt for a year puppies that are too young for intensive police training, yet who nonetheless need the love and individual attention that is impossible to be given at the PDU due to lack of personnel. Currently there are about 130 police dogs in the Force.

As is customary with the Unit, dog loving private families are sought to walk and raise for a year these pups, after which they are returned to the Unit for their intensive three-month training programme, before they are integrated into the Force.

Explained PDU acting Sergeant Leung Chun-tung: "At around 16 weeks, these puppies are ready to be taken home by families kind enough to raise and walk them. The young animals are visited by vets from the Agricultural and Fisheries Department on a regular basis who provide regular check-ups, deworming and all necessary vaccinations."

Also provided free is food to maintain a healthy diet for the dogs, as well as eating and drinking bowls, animal toys and all daily necessities.

Should a dog become ill, the PDU will arrange for proper veterinary treatment, including emergency medical treatment - again, all at no charge to the adopting individual or family.

"Finding a suitable host family for each pup is not an easy task," said acting Sergeant Leung. "To begin with, all family members should be dog lovers and there should be enough space for the animal to move around because exercise is necessary for the healthy development of our dogs. The major drawback is the difficulty in parting with these animals after the end of the year. It's difficult not to fall in love with them. After returning them to the PDU, temporary adopting family members tend to cry on their way home."

CURRENTLY there are about 130 police dogs serving in the Force, whose highly developed sense of smell, perseverance (especially in chasing down, tracing or tracking subjects), obedience, loyalty, intelligence and friendly dispositions have made them an invaluable tool in a variety of police operations.

Once they have undergone an intensive three-month training programme, these canine constables are deployed as general purpose patrol dogs, as well as specialists that perform such duties as explosive searches, dangerous drugs searches and tracking and subduing suspects.

At present police dogs have are serving in the Emergency Units of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon West, New Territories South and New Territories North, with a view to deployment in all police region EUs.

Last year police dogs were involved in over 510 cases and about 750 arrests, the majority of which were illegal immigrants hiding from police in hillsides, parks and construction sites.

Police dogs are also used for crowd control purposes and have proven to be adept at helping officers collect useful evidence in cases of robbery, burglary and rape.