Mysuru’s explosive detection dog dies, laid to rest with full honours

The funeral ceremony of Shyam, a six-year-old male Labrador, with full honours at the dog squad headquarters in Mysuru on Wednesday. Photo: M.A. Sriram.

Shyam, a six-year-old male Labrador, deployed for explosive detection by the Mysuru City Police, was laid to rest at the Dog Squad Centre on Wednesday with full honours.

Dog Squad Inspector Mallikarjun told reporters that the explosive detection dog, which was suffering from cancer, died on Tuesday night.

Earlier, the dog, which had been part of the Mysuru City Police Dog squad for the last five years, was given a funeral guard with officials assembling for a salute at the Dog Squad Centre.

“It was a very intelligent dog that was responding to the commands. It was used for explosive detection. It has been used on several occasions whenever we received calls pertaining to bomb threats and for other purposes like VIP movements, security issues etc,” he said.

The dog’s handler Sundareshan said Shyam was one of the seven dogs that formed the Dog Squad of Mysuru City Police. While Shyam and two other dogs were in the explosive detection squad, the four other dogs looked after narcotics detection and crime.

With the death of Shyam, the Explosive Detection Dog Squad has now been reduced to just two members.