KOTA KINABALU, Oct 30 — It is not often you come across a group of uniformed men getting emotional in public but that was the case at the Mas Cargo building this afternoon as officers from the Fire and Rescue Services Department (Bomba) waited anxiously for their precious cargo to arrive.

Their happiness and excitement were evident from the smiles on their faces as they were reunited with their partners — dogs from the Bomba’s K9 unit from Kuala Lumpur.

The six men — called handlers — and their dogs were posted to Sabah as part of the first ever Bomba K9 unit back in April but complications in the process delayed the dog’s move and they were separated for the last six months.

“Of course there’s some emotion. You are assigned a dog and you work closely with them — you train them, play with them, bathe them — they’re your partners, your child, your second wife, even, “ said the State canine detection (K9) unit chief Welfred Louis.

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“Everyone loves their own dogs so it’s not nice to be separated. So now we have to get reacquainted — to strengthen the bond again,” he said.

“We have been waiting for months to see them. I’m excited. I hope she’s been well taken care of,” said Arthur Anderson Walter. He later commented that his dog, a light Labrador named Lexi, had grown up and put on weight since he last saw it.

Sabah’s first Bomba K9 unit

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While Peninsula Malaysia has had their own Bomba K9 unit since 2002, Sabah and Sarawak finally got approval for their own this year.

“The need was always there, but I guess it was only pressing recently with the number disasters and therefore the need for search and rescue, and missing cases increasing these days,” said Welfred.

While there are 28 for Peninsula Malaysia, the two states each get six dogs for the time being.

In Sabah, two labradors — Lexi and Scott — and four English Springer Spaniels — Pepper, Bill, Peter and Fleur, will cover the entire state’s needs.

Pepper and Bill’s skill is in “fire investigation” — to sniff out accelerants that causes fire in cases of arson; Lexi and Scott are trained for “wilderness” — to track missing people in forest and jungles; while Peter and Fleur are trained in “cadaver” — to find corpses or people in disaster areas and rivers and lakes.

The dogs spent the night in their respective carriers at the cargo holding area in the airport and arrived at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport about 2pm today

After some waiting and examination of papers, they were finally delivered to the quarantine centre in Kinarut, some 20km away where they will remain for at least one week, before possibly carrying out the rest of their quarantine in Tuaran.

Each dog, now approximately two years old, is from the United Kingdom were they were specially selected for the task at hand and arrived in Kuala Lumpur in November last year.

They underwent training with their handlers in Kuala Lumpur before being despatched to the state where they will continue training with their assigned handlers.

The Sabah K9 team consists of eight people — the head, six handlers and one assistant handler, of which all but one are Sabahans.

“It’s nice to be able to come back to our hometown to work,” admits Harry Holly, who has been with the unit since its inception in 2002.

“But it’s also a little bit bittersweet because I had to leave behind my other dog, Bolt, who I have been working with before this. It was a fairly sad goodbye but he is in the hands of another handler now,” he said. Harry now works with Scott, a playful black Labrador.

Dennis Wan Jau, a Sarawakian from Miri, said that although Sabah was not his hometown, the being closer to home made the move a positive one.

Dennis now works with Pepper, a brown and white spotted English Springer Spaniel who is trained to detect seven types of accelerants known to cause fires.

The dogs are housed at the unit’s base in Tuaran, about 50km from the city centre, where they have their own walled but open-topped enclosure, with fans to cool them down.

Working with man’s best friend

To get on the K9 team, the criteria is specific.

“You need to love animals, not be allergic to them, not be Muslim, and also, you can’t have a temper,” said Welfred.

“Working with animals can be a joy, and the reward is when your dog performs his duty successfully. It is extremely fulfilling. Their contribution to society is so big but they’re not always given the recognition,” said James Jamat, who trains Peter in cadaver detection.

“When you take them out to an operation and they “fetch”, they are excited. They each have their own way of indicating when they find something. Either by barking, pointing, or sometimes they freeze, but they’re making eye contact with you and pointing with their eyes,” he said.

But it’s no walk in the park — the schedules for the unit are as regimented as any other.

“We have to wake up early and take them out for a walk and for them to relieve themselves several times a day, at 6.30am, 9.30am, 2pm and 6pm. They have a two-hour training and obedience session between 10am and 12pm. They’re fed once a day at 4pm and there’s daily grooming to tend to,” said Welfred.

Handlers are also responsible for ensuring their dogs are given supplements and kept agile, alert and obedient.

Unlike police and army dogs though, Bomba dogs are extremely friendly and playful and get to play fetch as a reward. They do not get “punished” or scolded harshly either.

“It’s not all fun and games — going on an operation is sometimes a gruelling journey. Disasters happen anywhere — highlands, remote jungles, fast flowing rivers. The dogs’ sense of smell is so useful in situations where humans cannot see but we have to consider their safety as well,” said Welfred.

“I think we are quite lucky to work with dogs. They’re very special. We can all fight fires but not everyone can work with dogs they way we do. The bond between an animal and its owner is a unique one,” said Harry.