50 animals serve the police and civil protection

There are 50 working animals that serve with the Police Force and the Civil Protection Department but no animals serving with the Armed Forces of Malta.

The information was tabled in parliament by Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri in reply to parliamentary questions by Opposition MPs Ivan Bartolo and Graziella Attard Previ.

Camilleri said the army has no working animals serving within its ranks.

The police have 13 horses on active duty in the Police Mounted Section, which has its stables headquartered in Marsa. The horses are normally used for ceremonial purposes, to conduct patrols and crowd control.

The Police Dogs Section has 30 dogs on active duty at its premises in Fort Mosta. A further two working dogs that are retired are still taken care of by police officers there, the minister said.

Police dogs are either trained for protection and assault to apprehend criminals and are also used in crowd control; or to search for explosives and drugs.

Meanwhile, the CPD has seven working dogs that are used to help in arson investigations—identifying fuel—and searches for victims caught beneath rubble.