mumbai the canine squads of the railway protection force rpf are gearing up for their newest arrivals while the western railway rpf recruited three pups in january the central railway rpf is looking at purchasing at least halfadozen in two months the central railway rpf is also adding three new kennels to their current two facilities for housing sniffer dogs in mumbai we have a dedicated spotpurchase committee which searches for good breeders purebreds available for sale are insufficient which often hampers the purchase process said inspector general anil sharma rpf cr the spotpurchase committee comprises three officers two of them rpf personnel and the third from the finance department of the railway administration the pups are purchased at the age of one to three months they undergo training and are usually inducted into the force at the age of nine months while the western railway rpf has hired 12 dogs from private agencies in its current team of 14 the central railway rpf prides on its selfowned team of 26 canines we have two kennels at present at matunga and at kalyan the matunga kennel houses 20 sniffer dogs of which 19 are labradors and one is a doberman pinscher the kalyan kennel houses 10 dogs of which five are labradors and one is a doverman pinscher our proposed kennels will be located at carnac bunder thane and lokmanya tilak terminus the carnac bunder kennel will be of great help whenever a situation occurs at cst which is an extremely busy station presently dogs have to be brought all the way from the matunga kennel if they are required at cst the carnac bunder kennel will also ease pressure on our dogs a senior cr official said in the harsh summer months the canine team is treated with coolers in their kennels interestingly even after recruitment the canines go through regular refresher courses where they are familiarized with the smell of explosives railway dogs unlike a bomb squad dog dont really come across explosives while patrolling on stations they may forget the smell of the explosive which is why a refresher course is so important an official said colonel jc khanna secretary of the bombay society for prevention of cruelty to animals bspca however cautioned that refresher courses should be held sparingly for instance once in three months and the dogs should get adequate rest to enhance their lifespans