I don't know if any of you saw the small piece done up by Reuters, that appeared in the Reuters Life! section, on Friday November 19, 2010 and again in 24HR, a weekday newspaper available in Toronto on Monday, November 22, 2010, but I thought you'd get a kick out of it, so I'm passing it along.
This is how it appears in Reuters:
Japan's newest police dog -- all 3 kg (6.6 lb) of her.
In what is a first for Japan and perhaps the world, a long-haired Chihuahua named "Momo" -- "Peach" -- passed exams to become a police dog in the western Japanese prefecture of Nara.
The brown-and-white, perky Momo was one of 32 successful candidates out of 70 dogs, passing a search and rescue test by finding a person in five minutes after merely sniffing their cap.
"Any breed of dog can be entered to become a police dog in the search and rescue division," said a Nara police spokesman.
But he admitted that news a Chihuahua had been entered may still come as a surprise to many.
"It's quite unusual," he said.
Television footage showed the 7-year-old Momo bounding across grass or sitting proudly, long hair blowing in the breeze.
Momo will be used for rescue operations in case of disasters such as earthquakes, in the hope that she may be able to squeeze her tiny frame into places too narrow for more usual rescue dogs, which tend to be German Shepherds.
The public response to the news of Momo's selection took police by surprise, the spokesman said, adding: "The phone's been ringing all afternoon."
(Reporting by Elaine Lies; editing by Paul Casciato
Pretty cool, huh? I never saw a chihuahua while in Japan, but I would be naive to assume they weren't there. But a chihuahua as a police dog? I know space is at a premium in many Japanese cities (especially Tokyo), but I never would have thought about utilizing a toy dog in the police force.
I just have this mental image of chihuahua's shivering in the 30C cold because they are always cold... or sitting in some celebutante's (my made-up word - I think - celebrity and debutante) handbag or purse!
I'm getting more upset at my chocolate labrador Buster as I write this. Still... despite me having written negative things about dogs in Japan, I would have loved to have had one... but, of course, it wouldn't have been fair to the critter when it was time for me to leave.
Actually... I never thought about getting a dog while there - or a cat (though I did have one for a bit), and just stuck with goldfish - figuring it was easier to get rid of the evidence should they, you know, accidentally die while I was around.
I know the Japanese have been famous for taking existing technology and making it smaller, but this chihuahua police dog takes the cake - no, wait... my dog Buster just snatched it from its maw.
Somewhere in the peach pits,
Andrew Joseph
Today's title is brought to you by AC/DC: GIVING THE DOG A BONE
The photo was scanned from 24HR
