Five police dogs, which would soon to be retired, are up for adoption, the New Taipei City Police Department announced on Thursday.
Six Labrador retrievers are to retire at the end of this year, the department’s K-9 unit said.
However, the human partner of the department’s popular Lucky Star (福星) has already announced on social media that he would adopt the star pooch upon retirement.
Photo courtesy of the New Taipei City Police Department
The hardworking canines that are up for adoption include Lucky Star’s siblings Shiny (亮亮) and Fei Ta (飛達), alongside Alpha (首領) and Xina, as well as Yutu, a drug-detecting dog.
K-9 unit head Ma Ching-chi (馬清基) said Labradors usually have very stable personalities and love people, which is why it is relatively easy for handlers to train them to become drug or explosives finders.
Moreover, unlike breeds like German shepherds which can intimidate some people, Labradors rarely make people feel uneasy, he said.
Five retiring explosive-detecting dogs had safeguarded the perimeter of events such as Double Ten National Day celebrations, presidential inaugurations and foreign dignitaries’ visits, he added.
Yutu’s career is also decorated with discovering evidence that helped police make successful drug busts, he said.
Dogs in K-9 units usually serve for four to seven years, and the five police canines are on average about seven years old, he said.
Ma said the pups were raised to follow strict routines, so he believed they would easily adapt to the retirement and being free from work stress.
However, Ma said he had observed that retired police pooches often receive too much love and attention in their new homes which could lead to them becoming overweight.
Prospective adopters should keep in mind the breed’s insatiable appetite and refrain from overfeeding the dogs, he said, adding that they should provide the dogs with active lifestyles for the sake of their four-legged family members.
The unit said it has held three retired K-9 adoption events since 2022.
Each of the adoption drives were met with enthusiasm, receiving more than 100 applications each time, it said.
People interested in adopting the police dogs can download Chinese-language adoption papers via the department’s Facebook page, it added.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS