A sniffer dog’s being hailed for his role in helping to uncover suspected cocaine to the value fo over €20,000 locally this week.
€7,000 of the drug was discovered buried in Kilkenny by Garda canine Rex, while separately another €14,000’s worth was found following the search of a premises in Carlow. (More here).
Divisional Crime Prevention Officer, Sgt Peter McConnon, on KCLR Live earlier said that the Dog Unit is deployed by An Garda Siochana locally on a regular basis to assist in searches and they make themselves very accessible to those working on the ground.
Sgt McConnon also said dogs like Rex can find much more than drugs, noting “They are trained in a number of fields to sniff out obviously illegal drugs in some cases cash and in some cases weapons so they’re very highly-trained animals”.
And for those wondering if Rex gets rewards for good work done, Sgt McConnon commented “Absolutely and he does get his down-time as well, he’s just like any other dog in a lot of cases and obviously he has to have his down-time and fun time, it’s like any of us if we’re working all of the time and we don’t have our downtime our work suffers, he certainly gets the best of treatment by his handler”.
Sgt McConnon also had a caution for those in the area who are involved in any way with illegal drugs, saying “As a word of warning to anybody who’s involved in sales, supply of drugs or who are using drugs we have a very active divisional drugs unit in Kilkenny and Carlow and only for them the dog wouldn’t be here”.
If anybody has concerns you’re asked to contact your local garda station. (More here).
