Invercargill police dog handlers are covering for their Dunedin counterparts, it has been revealed.
A supervising handler and five constables were usually based in Dunedin and three constables and a supervising handler in Invercargill, Inspector Steve McGregor, Southern District Police operations manager, said.
Both teams worked across the district to meet operational requirements.
He confirmed the Dunedin team was reduced following the retirement of three dog handlers, and the Invercargill team was covering until appointments were made.
Insp McGregor said a new member would start training in Dunedin in the coming months.
The Otago Daily Times understands another Dunedin-based dog handler is on long-term leave.
''As you can appreciate, dog handling is a very specialised field and requires a significant amount of skill development before a dog and its handler become operational. Therefore, when a vacancy is created, it does take time to build up this capability,'' Insp McGregor said.
The facts
• Police dogs respond to more than 30,000 incidents a year.
• Police dog handlers are officers with about five years' policing experience before they join the dog unit.
• Training of a patrol dog is based on six-stage development and qualification process that starts as a puppy and ends when they graduate, usually at 18 months of age. Source: New Zealand Police
