'Desi' Dogs To Chase Away Birds From Runaways For IAF

Mudhol Hounds which are known to be excellent hunting dogs will now join the Indian Air Force as well to chase away the birds and animals that come to the runaways.

Image Source (IANS)

New Delhi: The Indian Air Force is going to train Mudhol Hound, an Indian breed of sight hound native to Karnataka to chase away birds and animals that wander into the runaways and reduce risk of bird-hits. The IAF is enlisting indie breeds for the first time, four Mudhol hound puppies, including two females, were brought to the Agra airbase on Sunday. A few weeks ago, IAF officials placed an order for seven puppies they other three puppies will be handed over after six months as per an agreement. They given to IAF by Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, Govind M. Karajol, on behalf of the Canine Research and Information Centre (CRIC) in Bagalkot district of Karnataka to be trained by experts to chase away animals as they are a menace at airbases. 

According to IANS, an official said "To address the problem of ground-dwelling birds such as lapwings and larks, IAF planned dog walking module. IAF chose to use a domestic breed as part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat. Taking a cue from PM's 'Mann Ki Baat' in which he had praised this breed, we decided to try the Mudhol hound. The qualities and temperament of this native breed were found suitable for bird scaring. The Air Force station here was selected as a pilot project. Depending on the success of the project, it will be extended to other stations."

The Mudhol Hound, according to experts are best known for its stamina, sharpness and agility making the are excellent hunting dogs. They are also known to be fiercely loyal to their owners. These all-weather dogs, require minimum grooming. It is not the first time that they have be recruited in the army are they are a part of the Indian Army, CRPF, CISF, BSF, SSB, ITBP and various police departments in different states. The training of these Karnataka-origin hunting hounds first started in 2016 by the Army's Remount and Veterinary Corps (RVC) centre in Meerut.

In the 1920, Ghorpade kings of Mudhol (now in Bagalkot in North Karnataka) in the 1920s would breed by crossing Persian and Turkish breeds with local dogs. He noticed that these dogs were used by the 'Bedar' tribal people for hunting. He then presented the dog to King George V which popularized the breed.