ABU DHABI // A team of police dogs have been trained to sniff out palm weevils, pests that destroy date trees, in a project police said was the first of its kind in Middle East. The dogs, chosen from a group of German shepherds and Labradors, spent months working with their trainers until they could quickly identify trees infested with the weevil, which is one of the most serious threats to date plantations in the region.
The effort was a collaboration between the police dog unit and the managing authorities for Al Foaa Farms in Al Ain, according to WAM, the state news agency. Lt Col Jamal Habash, the head of the dog unit at Abu Dhabi Police, said his department would show the sniffer dogs to officials this year after more experiments had been conducted. Police would then register a patent on the process in the name of the UAE and general headquarters of Abu Dhabi Police.
Lt Col Habash said Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, the Minister of Interior, had been made aware of the results and directed the unit to increase its efforts. The success of the training programme was a "pleasant surprise", said Major Hashim al Sayyed, the head of the Al Ain police dog unit. relass@thenational.ae
