Wilf, Sue, Bella, Cliff, Daisy and Bailey are finally here!

From left: Kenneth Masir with Bella, Steven Ambu with Cliff (Cadaver), Maxwell Joe Richard Sampa with Sue (Fire Investigation), Dominic Bahong Micky with Daisy (Wilderness), Dennis Augustine Nassim with Bailey (Wilderness).
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By Nancy Nais

KUCHING, Oct 13: Six “new officers” from the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) Malaysia has finally arrived here.

The long-awaited call of duty for these four-legged officers (K9) in Sarawak is highly anticipated by the department’s Unit Pengesan after months of delay.

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The United Kingdom (UK) trained dogs comprises four English Springer Spaniels (named Wilf, Sue, Bella and Cliff), a Border Collie named Daisy, and a Labrador named Bailey. They departed Kuala Lumpur International Airport and arrived in Kuching at about 1.45pm.

 

Khirudin (red cap) with director of operations Malaysia Datuk Abdul Wahab Mat Yassin (centre) and handler Maxwell Joe Richard Sampa after loading the dogs before transporting them to their base in Serian.
Khirudin (red cap) with state deputy director operations Tiong Ling Hii (left), director of operations Malaysia Datuk Abdul Wahab Mat Yassin (5th left) and other K9 officers at MasKargo with the dogs in cages behind.

When met at MasKargo, state Bomba director Khirudin Drahman told DayakDaily that the long-awaited day had finally arrived for them and the Sarawak community.

“The dogs will have to go through one month quarantine as per Department of Veterinary Services. After that, they can start joining our operations. With these six, they will increase our fire and rescue services for the community,” he said.

Calling the six “valuable living assets”, Khirudin explained that each of them had their own speciality.

One of the K9 ‘officer’ Sue, an English Springer Spaniel looking out from her cage upon arrival at Kuching International Airport.
Handler Maxwell Joe Richard Sampa (left) taking Daisy (Border Collie) out of her cage for inspection.

“They will be divided into three disciplines, namely fire investigation, wilderness, and cadaver. The fire investigation discipline serves to detect the cause of a fire, particularly in arson cases.

“The wilderness discipline is meant to track victims in the forest, while the cadaver discipline serves to track dead victims either on land or collapsed building or in rivers and lakes,” he said.

Director of operations Malaysia Datuk Abdul Wahab Mat Yassin with the new K9 ‘officers’

The K9 unit station is in Serian, which will be used for deployment across the state.

Each dog, together with its handler, is specially trained in specific categories.

Bomba’s first K9 unit was established in Kuala Lumpur in 2003. It has proven useful in operations such as search and rescue. — DayakDaily

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