The Story of Police Dogs
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X6403700304 |
| Date | 01 March 1964 |
| Author | N. W. H. Fairfax |
| Published date | 01 March 1964 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
N. W.
H.
FAIRFAX
Metropolitan Police Office
THE
STORY
OF
POLI~E
DOGS
The
Canidae-a
subsidiary branch of the beasts of
prey-evolved
from prehistoric mammals about 60 m. years ago and from these
primeval beasts originated the beings which subsequently produced
separate families, one of which evolved a wolf-like animal, believed
to be the main progenitor of the canine strain. During the Palaeo-
lithic era man began to domesticate and the canine and cave drawings
of
the new stone, bronze and iron ages depict man and dog hunting
together in search of food.
Drawings found in Egyptian tombs about 4-5,000 years ago show
that several distinct varieties had been developed and bas-reliefs
of
about 1,000 B.C. show dogs fitted with armour and being used by the
Pharaohs in lion hunts and for war-like purposes.
One of the early Christian zoologists, Oppian, wrote in his Cyne-
getica:
In mating the tribes of dogs take heed that breeds are fit and right suitable
for one another . . . The breeds should remain pure . . . To the young
whelps give names that are short and swiftly spoken that they may hear a
command swiftly . . . When some hunter desires to make trials of his dogs,
he carries in his hands a hare, dead or alive, and walks forward on a devious
path, now pursuing astraight course, now aslant, left or right twining his
crooked way, but when he has come very far from the city and the gates,
then he digs a trench and buries the hare. Returning back to the city, he
straightway brings nigh the
path
the cunning dog; and immediately it is
excited and snorts at the scent of the hare, and seeks the track upon the
ground . . . and when at last he hits the airy trail, he gives tongue and
whines for joy.
And this was written about 210 A.D.!
After the Roman occupation of Britain an officer was appointed
with the title of Procurator Cynegii whose business it was to obtain
and transport Mastiffs to Rome to fight in arenas or to act as guards:
coins subsequently discovered show that dogs were also used as
guards in this country.
It
is
not
unreasonable to suppose, therefore,
that
they continued to be used as such during King Alfred's Thane
system of maintaining law and order and to a greater extent following
Edgar's introduction of the Tything and Hundred system.
When Henry I re-organized his household he prepared adocument
known as the Constitutio Domus Regis, one passage from which
has been translated as follows:
In the courtyard was the constable who, with the aid
of
the marshal,
maintained the stables, the kennels, and the mews, and also protected and
policed the whole court.
Such royal animals were kept either as guards or for
hunting-the
sport
of
kings. During the 12th and 13th centuries nearly one third
of
the country consisted
of
forests and Henry II is known to have
possessed at least 68
of
them. In order to protect the life of the forests,
March 1964 113
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