This Rescued Stray Dog Is Now A Top Officer In An Elite Indian Police Squad
Asha was running away from stone-throwing kids when police officers found her.
By Alyssa J. Oon — 07 Mar 2019, 07:29 PM
It's a story worthy of its own movie.
A stray mixed-breed dog in Kolkata, India is set to join the ranks of an elite police bomb squad after undergoing training for a year and a half.
The mutt was being attacked by stone-throwing children when West Bengal police officers found her outside their facility, reported NDTV.
"The dog was bleeding when she was taken inside the campus," senior West Bengal Police Training Academy official Dipankar Bhattacharya.
She was named 'Asha', which means "hope" in Hindi.
Asha was initially set to be a pet for the training facility.
A year and a half later, she now outperforms her fellow colleagues, consisting of German Shepherds and Labradors.
Even her trainers were surprised at how quickly she progressed.
A mere three months into her training, Asha learned how to "heel" and could walk alongside her trainer in a restrained manner, reported The Times Of India.
"She could soon follow instructions to sit, salute, rest, lie down, and roll over, just like the others, quite early," said deputy superintendent of police Sajal Mandal.
"She is also our fastest runner."
Since she has only just "graduated" her training, Asha will be formally introduced to her force soon
Her proud trainers said that she is "flawless" in detecting RDX, TNT, and gelatine and detonating fuses with elan.
Asha is also the first stray dog to join the 30-strong dog squad, reported Huffington Post.
"We hope this experiment will enable us to induct more street dogs into the team," said Bhattacharya.
