Kerala Police's veteran sniffer dog Samantha retires after a decade

A veteran Labrador of the Kerala Police's canine squad has retired after more than ten years of service, walking out of the Pathanamthitta district police headquarters beside the handler who will now care for her.

Samantha, listed in police records as K9-286, formally ended her service on Saturday. She was handed over to her current handler, George Antony, who volunteered to take her home for her retirement.

The farewell followed the routines that marked her working life. Accompanied by Mr. Antony, Samantha saluted District Police Chief R. Anand and received a salute and a garland in return.

Mr. Anand described her association with her former handlers, Shyamraj and Shabu, and with Mr. Antony, as an illustration of the trust and discipline that sustain the police's K9 unit. He noted that Samantha had taken part in the recent Toofan operation and in several other major searches and raids.

Mr. Antony said he had been attached to the dog since his training days and described her as being like a daughter to him.

Samantha joined the district K9 squad as a narcotics sniffer and went on to assist in more than 350 investigations, helping detect narcotic substances worth crores of rupees. She represented Pathanamthitta at the 2023 State Police Duty Meet, finishing third in the tracking and scent identification categories, and earned several good service entries from the District Police Chief.

The Pathanamthitta K9 squad now has six trained dogs. Samantha and Rambo are narcotics sniffers, Saya and Jack are trained in crime-scene tracking, and Seego and Julie are explosive sniffers. With two handlers assigned to each dog, the squad has a strength of 12 police personnel.

The unit is deployed in investigations, searches for narcotics and explosives, and security arrangements during visits by VVIPs, including the President and the Prime Minister.