It’ll be far from a dog’s life for PAL K-9s in retirement

MANILA, Philippines—At Philippine Airlines, the cliche about canines being man’s best friend could not be more apt.

PAL’s crack unit of explosive detection dogs, or EDDs, retired 11 of its more than 50 hounds on Labor Day, making sure they were sent off with “well-deserved recognition.”

“Instead of being sold off like most retiring canines, we’re making arrangements for our hardworking dogs Bruno, Mars, Jupiter, Mercury, Pluto, Triton, Aries, Hector, Hera, Heyda, and Diana to be adopted by their own handlers,” Joey de Guzman, PAL vice president for corporate communications, told the Inquirer.

Handler-dog bond

De Guzman said “this will ensure that the bond forged over many years between the dogs and their handlers will not be severed.”

The 11 Belgian Malinois, all part of PAL’s own breeding program, “will be turned over to the eager and waiting arms of their handlers upon the release of their adoption papers,” De Guzman added.

“Under an agreement, the handlers can’t sell the dogs. We want to make sure that like adoptive parents, they will take good care of them. The canines have been an important part of the PAL family and we want to treat them with dignity, even in retirement,” De Guzman said.

He said that, “initially, PAL thought of selling them. But we realized that it’s not the proper way to send off our specially-trained dogs.”

Most of the retirees had served PAL for five years.

No longer effective

“For EDDs, the average length of service is eight to nine years. But we’re retiring this batch early. According to the dogs’ trainers and vets, they’re no longer effective as EDDs, if not productive as breeders,” said De Guzman.

PAL is the “only Philippine carrier with its own K-9 unit,” noted De Guzman.

The airline’s K-9 program, began in 2004, is a “mark of PAL’s commitment to robust security,” he added.

“Each year, PAL spends close to P2 million just for dog food, grooming and veterinary needs. The figure rises to almost P15 million annually with the inclusion of utility and manpower costs of dog handlers, trainers and helpers. For every canine, a handler is assigned by the airline,” said De Guzman.

The K-9 unit’s expenses “exclude the upkeep of PAL’s sprawling kennel (near the airline’s Flight Operations Center on Andrews Avenue, Pasay City), where 55 imported and locally-bred Belgian Malinois, Labrador Retrievers and German Shepherds are housed. The facility has an open space big enough for the dogs to play, run and train in,” De Guzman said.

“Most of the dogs were imported at an average cost of $6,000, or about P250,000 each,” he said.

Out in the field, PAL’s canines are “key sentinels in the wearying and often dangerous work of sniffing out possible explosive substances.”

“Each dog is on duty at least three to four hours daily. They are assigned to the PAL hub at the NAIA Centennial Terminal and PAL’s cargo terminal. They also inspect the airline’s fleet of 19 wide-body Boeing 777s and 747s and Airbus 340s and 330s which serve a total of 20 domestic and 25 international destinations,” said De Guzman.

The EDDs “complement the efforts of airport and aviation police who have come to appreciate the additional man- and dog-power fielded by PAL,” he added.

The crack K-9 unit has reaped several awards in contests like the K-9 Explosive Detection Competition organized by the Manila International Airport Authority in December 2009.