By IANS
Kochi : Cochin airport Tuesday got its own dog squad comprising two female Labradors as part of its security set-up, becoming the first airport in the country to do so.
"No other airport in the country has its own dog squad. We are the first to get one. The Labradors have been purchased at Rs.125,000 each from the dog training centre of the Indian Army in Meerut," S. Bharath, managing director Cochin International Airport Limited, told reporters.
Earlier, the airport would ask Kerala Police to provide sniffer dogs when required and they had to be brought from 50 km away.
"The two dogs would be kept at the airport and used when VIPs travel or when there is a bomb alert," said Bharath.
The airport had in the late 1990s become the first private-public funded airport in the country.