Poland will grant state benefits to dogs who have retired from working in the prison service, helping their handlers provide food and medical care for the animals.
A measure introducing such “pensions” for dogs and horses that have served in the police force, border guard and fire service was approved by the interior ministry last year.
Now the justice ministry will extend similar retirement benefits to dogs in the prison service. The ordinance was signed by the ministry’s head, Zbigniew Ziobro, just before Christmas.
Poland's government is seeking to introduce retirement benefits for dogs and horses that have served in the police.
Currently, they receive no state support after finishing work, and are cared for by their former handler or a charity https://t.co/SsJ6UxtO8g
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The animals will be provided with “lifelong maintenance and veterinary care, also when they retire,” said Michał Woś, a deputy justice minister, announcing the measure at Służewiec prison in Warsaw last week.
“The regulation provides for a whole range of amenities” for the animals when they retire after nine years in service, he said. This will include funds to cover food and medicine.
Woś said that in principle the retiring dogs remained “under the care of penitentiary units” and in 98% of cases also in the care of their handlers. Only in “very special” cases would other institutions take over these responsibilities.
There are currently 129 dogs working in the prison service, of which 23 are patrol animals and 106 are trained to detect drugs smuggled in packages into penitentiary units. Woś said they performed “important functions”, in particular “helping fight drug crime”.
Many of the dogs in the prison service are German shepherds and Belgian Malinois. However, there are also terriers, beagles and cocker spaniels.
“Every dog is an individual and works differently: each has a different tempo and detects different smells,” said Paweł Płochocki from Służewiec prison, quoted by the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
Before being selected for service, the health condition of dogs is assessed by a veterinarian. They are also tested on how they react to stimuli such as new people and gunshots, as well as how they behave in stressful conditions, such as in dark and tight spaces.
Main image credit: Jolanta Żółkiewska/SW.gov.pl/press materials
Maria Wilczek is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She is a regular writer for The Times, The Economist and Al Jazeera English, and has also featured in Foreign Policy, Politico Europe, The Spectator and Gazeta Wyborcza.
