Mumbai, Aug. 22 -- In a significant policy shift aimed at ensuring the welfare of retired police dogs, the Maharashtra government has decided that retired police canines will no longer be handed over to third-party adopters and will instead remain with their handlers, with all expenses borne by the state.
The decision was taken following a directive from Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, under which retired police dogs will continue to live alongside their familiar handlers after completing their years of service.
Under the existing system, police dogs typically retired after about 10 years of active duty, during which they are deployed for tasks including tracking suspects, detecting explosives and locating missing persons. They were the...