Sniffer dogs keep the wicked out of Laikipia villages

Updated Thursday, August 1st 2013 at 10:32 GMT +3

One of the bloodhounds follows a trail handled by Kenya Police reservists.

Laikipia, Kenya: In the course of his administrative career, the chief of Ilpolei Location in Laikipia North, Stephen Putunoi, has never seen security so tight thanks to sniffer dogs owned by a neighbouring rancher.

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He says the reality of a more secure area had not sunk into his mind until one morning in 2011, when a village shop was broken into and packets of maize flour, crates of soda, a stack of cigarette packs and money were stolen.
A furious Putunoi called a village baraza to address the issue and in the meeting, he says, he made remarks whose consequences worked miracles: he announced to villagers that he would call in sniffer dogs owned by a private rancher to help trace the lost items and the culprit.
“It was then that a fidgety youth confessed to having broken into the shop. He apologised and promised to make amends to the victim and the issue ended there,” says the chief.
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This illuminates how three sniffer dogs imported from America and Europe by Ol Jogi Limited, a wildlife conservancy, have changed things in the cattle rustling and poaching hotspot that is Laikipia North.
Ol Jogi General Manager John Weller says they first brought the sniffer bloodhounds for rhino protection in 1989; additional Belgian Malinois attack dogs were ordered from Europe last year.
Jamie Gaymer, the Wildlife Security Manager at Ol Jogi, calls the dogs “just another conservation tool”. He says while the dogs were initially brought in at a cost of Sh210,000 strictly for wildlife security, the need for excellent community liaison has seen them volunteer the canines to help settle nasty village cases.
“All that is needed is non-interfered evidence at the scene, such as a footprint or a piece of the suspect’s clothes or personal effects that the dogs can use to launch a trail,” says Gaymer.
Dol Dol OCS Bernard Ateba says the dogs are only used to solve communal crimes with the approval of local security and administration officials, even though Gaymer and 24 other Ol Jogi game wardens are officers in the National Police Reserve.
According to Mr Putunoi, the canines have given them a breakthrough in various criminal cases in the area and several suspects currently have cases at the Nanyuki law courts after the dogs sniffed them out.