K9 team helpful, but not suitable for Aceh

K9 team helpful, but not suitable for Aceh

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Lhokseumawe, Aceh

Meet Raima, formerly an assistant to the police whose job was to
detect explosive materials at the JW Marriott Hotel in South
Jakarta.

But Raima the Labrador was not on duty when a bomb exploded at
the hotel on Aug. 5, killing 12 people and injuring 147 others.

She is among nine well-trained dogs who were dispatched from
the Kelapa Dua canine training center in East Jakarta to the war-
torn province of Aceh, as the government launched a major
offensive against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels on May 19,

The Labrador was among a team of three assigned to North Aceh,
along with Rottweiler Attack and Labrador-Doberman blaster Alex.
The other six dogs were assigned to the provincial capital of
Banda Aceh and Pidie regency.

They all have special capabilities and a long list of
credentials.

Besides safeguarding hotels, Raima, who is now two and a half
years old, has been entrusted to secure international events,
including the International Conference on Sustainable Development
in Bali last year, a few months before the devastating bombs
attacks there in October.

According to Attack's instructor Second Brig. Maskur Wibowo,
the six-year-old dog was owed more than just a pat on the head
when he demonstrated his skills by locating the scattered remains
of human bodies, in the sectarian conflict in Poso, Central
Sulawesi, in 2000.

But the dog's skills had apparently not been put to the test
lately, although he is used in the security of state
institutions, administration offices, and banks in Lhokseumawe,
the capital of North Aceh.

"They have just once joined in our operations over the past
three months," said Chief Brig. Age Suryono, the commander of the
canine team for the North Aceh police.

He said in that operation, in a small village in Mongeudong
last month, the canine team had forced three suspected GAM
members out of hiding. The dogs also located a motorcycle and a
bayonet, which were seized as evidence of one of the suspects
alleged involvement in the separatist movement.

Aceh has adopted sharia (Islamic law) as part of its status of
special autonomy. Muslims consider the dog to be an unclean
animal.

Did the Acehenese people mind the dogs entering their houses
to search?

"I don't know about that. The fact is, none of them were in
their houses because the residents were evacuated ahead of the
operation," Age said.

North Aceh police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Eko Daniyanto, however,
admitted that he was "scolded" by the regency's military chief
when reporting the operation to him.

"He said: `My God, this is the land of sharia. You should have
though twice'. But the dogs are incredibly good. I didn't look
back," he said.

But such a condition is only one of many problems that makes
the presence of the K9 team unsuitable to Aceh.

"The dogs' special diet is not available in Aceh. Jakarta has
to send preserved dog food and we have to pick it up from Medan,
which makes their food more expensive than that of our soldiers,"
Age said.

Medan, the capital of neighboring North Sumatra province, is
300 kilometers or seven hours drive from Lhokseumawe.

The lack of health facilities for the dogs has also posed
another problem. Usually, the dogs undergo medical check ups
twice a week, Age said.

"In this emergency condition, the instructors have to inject
the dogs with vitamins regularly. If we need medical help, then
we must drive them to Medan and take the flight to Jakarta," he
added.

"What we are the most worried about is the emergency cages
made for the dogs. The frail wooden structure are easy to break
down. If the dogs mate, then it will decrease their stamina by up
to 25 percent and, of course, weaken their sense of smell," he
said.