(Eagle News) — The Philippine Coast Guard is building a K-9 training facility, the first of its kind in the entire Southeast Asia region.
According to the PCG, the facility shall serve as the country’s center for comprehensive and advanced training for all Coast Guard working dogs and their handlers.
The goal, the PCG said, is to produce PCG K9 units that are “highly efficient in search and rescue (SAR), threat detection, and fugitive apprehension.”
The facility will also cater to future K9 units the Philippine Ports Authority intends to recruit, saving the agency P30 million of its annual budget allocated in hiring private working dogs and K9 handlers to maintain port security.
According to the PCG, upon completion, the PCG National K9 Institute shall be equipped with a breeding facility and veterinary clinic for the working dogs.
“It will also have a live explosive training site, an indoor training area, conference rooms for K9 handlers, and sufficient billeting spaces for in-house instructors, staff, and trainees,” the PCG said.
According to the PCG, it sees an increase in the number of the Department of Transportation’s active working dogs to at least 1,000 “for tactical deployment in all sea, road, rail, and air transport facilities across the country.”
As of Aug. 26, the Coast Guard K9 Force has a total of 414 working dogs and 266 active K9 handlers.
The construction of the facility began on Aug. 26.
