British Police Activities in Hong Kong
| Published date | 01 October 1986 |
| Author | Jamie Robertson,Nicola Pazdzierski |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8605900411 |
| Date | 01 October 1986 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
NICOLA PAZDZIERSKI and JAMIE ROBERTSON,
Two British journalists based in Hong Kong.
BRITISH POLICE ACTIVITIES
IN
HONG
KONG
Dogs
Every dog has his day, and it would seem that applies to British
canines more
than
most. They have been proving they are
top
dogs
in Hong Kong, where several have been imported to swell the ranks
of the territory's police force.
Abolder type of dog is vital to the success of the force because of
the alarming
amount
of violence they face. The most famous dog
bred from British stock is Lorna. She was the first dog outside
Britain to be presented with the RSPCA's highest award for the
most courageous act by a working dog. She gained it for continuing
to chase a suspect despite being slashed across the nose with an axe.
The wound was two and a half inches deep but Lorna got her man
and he was arrested by her handler.
There were fears she would not recover, and for the first week of
her convalescence she was fed on soup alone, but she made a
remarkable recovery and she is now back on her beat - still
catching villains.
Elsewhere in the world more timid dogs may be acceptable, but in
the tough underground world of Hong Kong a police officer's life
may depend on his animal's courage, so ever since Chief Inspector
Cliff Lamburn, 51,
took
over as the Royal Hong Kong Police dog
master in 1981, he has looked to the UK for the best breeding stock.
Now the constabulary has
about
90 dogs
and
their ranks are
likely to swell by almost 100 from the British army when it packs its
bags for the Chinese take-over in 1997. Lamburn's first recruit was
German Shepherd, Penny
Mount
Brown: now called Lillie, she
came from force headquarters in Surrey.
Not
only is she a valuable
dog,
but
she has also produced 16 pups, 12 of which have become
police dogs.
A second dog, Nellie, bought from private dealers, had nine pups,
seven of which are in the force. Chief Inspector Lamburn, who comes
from Wales
and
used to be a Home Office trainer, said: "The British
dogs came
out
here after me
and
have now produced the nucleus of a
breeding stock in Hong Kong. Dogs are extremely important to the
RHKPF
and
the Chinese are very apprehensive of them. But the
work is more demanding in courage and bravery
than
back home.
Out here the locals tend to take up arms at the drop of a hat",
He added: "Bitches take longer to train,
and
tend to be more
temperamental,
but
with a little more sympathy
and
understanding
you can eventually get yourself a first class worker".
356 October 1986
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