Bruno, a beautiful and nimbly trained Belgian Malinois, is ready to stick his nose into crime cases after he has been officially handed over to the police. (Photo: Provided)
Bruno, a beautiful and nimbly trained Belgian Malinois, is ready to stick his nose into crime cases after he has been officially handed over to the police.
The civil rights organization AfriForum donated this trained police dog to the South African Police Service (SAPD) in the Western Cape on Wednesday in an effort to tackle the critical shortage of resources in the province’s canine unit.
Bruno is the first trained police dog that AfriForum donates to the police’s dog unit.
Jacques Broodryk, AfriForum’s chief spokesperson for community safety, says that this is only the beginning and that Bruno will certainly not be the last dog to be handed over in this way.
“The donation of a trained dog follows growing concern about the lack of operational police dogs. Although the police have purchased 95 dogs for the 2023/2024 financial year and to date 23 dogs for the 2024/2025 financial year, the rate at which these dogs are being replaced is not keeping up with the rate at which they are being retired,” says Broodryk.
According to information from Firoz Cachalia, the acting minister of police, the shortage of police dogs is caused, among other things, by injuries that the animals sustain on duty. In addition, there are currently many older dogs in the system who have been diagnosed with acute medical conditions and are therefore no longer able to perform service efficiently.
Sers. Teboho Thelejane and Bruno. (Photo: Verskaf)
The situation is further complicated by the interruption of the police’s own breeding program. The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic also brought all training efforts to a standstill at the time, which only worsened the backlog of available dogs over time. This lack of four-legged officers has a direct influence on the police’s ability to curb crime.
“The shortage is hampering crime-fighting, especially in drug detection and search and rescue operations, all of which are key functions in areas plagued by ongoing gang violence,” says Broodryk.
AfriForum emphasizes that effective policing requires sufficient resources. The organization believes that civil society has a role to play in supporting law enforcement where there are capacity constraints.
“Practical cooperation between communities and the police is essential to improve safety at grassroots level. By donating this police dog, AfriForum intends to contribute significantly to improving the operational efficiency of the Western Cape police.”
AfriForum intends to donate more trained police dogs to the police in the future, so that dog units across the country have sufficient capacity to combat crime.
“We remain committed to launching initiatives that promote the safety and well-being of communities. That is why we plan to set up a special fund that will be used specifically to enable the training and handing over of more police dogs.”
Lt. Col. Ricardo Davids and Jacques Broodryk during the handover. (Photo: Provided)