The top trending clip that made rounds on social media is of Foxtrot, a Labrador Retriever that was part of a recent drug raid at a Rehoboth house during a police operation.

The clip, shared by this publication on Facebook, garnered more than 127 000 views, 1 000 reactions and a dozen comments from viewers making fun of Foxtrot’s tactics while being guided by its handler, who repeatedly kept saying “soek, soek” (search, search).

“A well-trained dog doesn’t need to be told “soek, soek” over and over again. You just tell it once and it will search the whole house until you say ‘stop’,” posted Sakaria Gumede Kandenge.

Katrina Aluta Williams added: “A sniffer dog doesn’t need to be directed. If it’s trained properly, it automatically goes where the drugs are. Our country is a laughing stock.”

One person, who ordinarily does not like dogs inside houses, cringed at the sight of the dog jumping onto a bed and probably leaving the blankets wet with saliva or hair.

Another social media user made fun of their unemployment statuses, saying “A dog is employed and I am not; look at life.”

A further comment was that Nampol made a remix of ‘Soek, Soek’, a ballad by Dj Spuzza, featuring Chester Houseprince, Don Kamati, Mega and Chakie. 

Nevertheless, Foxtrot was the hero of the day, after it sniffed out 90 grams worth of marijuana, worth N$3 500.

Although most of these dogs are German Shepherds, any breed can be trained to sniff.

By 1971, the United States was training dogs to identify explosives and illegal substances, notably marijuana, heroin and cocaine. 

In later years, the drug dog programme was expanded to include ecstasy and methamphetamine. 

Governmental organisations and private companies began investigating other uses for sniffer dogs.    - psiririka@nepc.com.na