Unprecedented meeting this Wednesday afternoon at the central police station in Nantes. While the holidays are in full swing, a dozen teenagers took part in a session to discover the profession of dog handler, organized for the first time by the police to “help young people, some in the middle of the Parcoursup, to decide on their orientation project”. “A perfect job in my opinion because it combines my passion for animals and the desire to help others,” says Morgane, in second class. But that also raises a number of questions.
First, where do the eleven dogs that currently make up the canine brigade of Loire-Atlantique come from? “About half come from donations or from the SPA, with whom we have a partnership, replies Major Edouard Dabin, head of the canine brigade. We had German Shepherds, Beaucerons, but in recent years, there has been a fashion for the Belgian Shepherd and the Malinois, some of which are unfortunately abandoned and which we are recovering. But not all dogs are suitable for our missions, which take place in a hostile environment. »
So, how is the selection made?, asks Solen, in Terminale. A 15-minute test is enough to know if the doggie is made to endorse “defense intervention” or “research” activities. “For example, we throw a tennis ball into a bush: if he agrees to enter a place that stings, it is because he already has a good level of courage”, explains Edouard Dabin. A little later, it is also necessary to check that he is not afraid of gunfire. They are then trained and trained for three months, “always through play”, before embarking on the field.
A relationship of complicity of six years on average
Because then, the dog is considered “a real agent”, “very dissuasive in contexts of great tension”. Except in the case of self-defence, he acts muzzled by hitting an individual with his head, for example. His work is finer in the search for drugs or banknotes, with a particular smell. “The dog has 300 million olfactory cells with a nasal septum directly connected to the brain! You have to be able to observe it well when it marks certain places. And for that, having previously created a strong bond.
Here again, teenagers want to know more. For it to match between the dog and the policeman (who had to pass a qualification as a dog handler, after having obtained his competition as a peacekeeper), a 15-day session is organized. The relationship of complicity then lasts an average of six years, with a well-deserved retirement for the doggies around the age of 8: the majority are placed with families, sometimes including those of their former police masters.
After these questions, the young people present in the room have one last one. Are they made for this job? “You can’t exercise it if you don’t like animals. But it goes even further because you have to be ready to carry your dog, accompany it, take care of it on a daily basis, like a team for which you are responsible. If we hire him, we go with him. He is a full-fledged colleague, even if we know that we must be ready to sacrifice him if it saves a human life. “According to Edouard Dabin, there may be injuries, but no dog has recently died in intervention in Loire-Atlantique.