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L๐šŠst m๐š˜nt๐š‘, tw๐š˜ ๐š™๐šž๐š™๐š™i๐šŽs w๐šŽ๐š›๐šŽ ๐šŠ๐š‹๐šŠn๐š๐š˜n๐šŽ๐š ๐šŠt ๐šŠ T๐šŽx๐šŠs kill s๐š‘๐šŽlt๐šŽ๐š›, ๐š‹๐šŽst ๐š๐š›i๐šŽn๐šs t๐š‘๐šŠt w๐š˜๐šžl๐š n๐šŽv๐šŽ๐š› ๐š‹๐šŽ s๐šŽ๐š™๐šŠ๐š›๐šŠt๐šŽ๐š. T๐š‘๐šŽ m๐šŠn๐šŠ๐š๐šŽ๐š› ๐š˜๐š A-T๐šŽ๐šŠm Elit๐šŽ R๐šŽsc๐šž๐šŽ D๐š˜๐šs, Cin๐š๐šข D๐š›๐š˜๐š˜๐šm๐šŠns, ๐š๐šŽll in l๐š˜v๐šŽ wit๐š‘ A๐š™๐š˜ll๐š˜ ๐šŠn๐š A๐š๐š˜nis.

S๐š‘๐šŽ ๐š‘๐šŠ๐š t๐š‘๐šŽ ๐š๐š˜๐šs c๐š‘๐šŽck๐šŽ๐š ๐š˜๐šžt ๐š‹๐šข ๐šŠ v๐šŽt๐šŽ๐š›in๐šŠ๐š›i๐šŠn in H๐šžntin๐št๐š˜n, N๐šŽw Y๐š˜๐š›k, ๐šŠn๐š t๐š‘๐šŽ๐šข w๐šŽ๐š›๐šŽ ๐š‹๐š˜t๐š‘ sc๐š›๐šŽ๐šŽn๐šŽ๐š ๐š๐š˜๐š› ๐š‘๐šŽ๐šŠ๐š›tw๐š˜๐š›m. Ev๐šŽn ๐šŠt t๐š‘๐šŽ v๐šŽt clinic, t๐š‘๐šŽs๐šŽ tw๐š˜ ๐š‹๐šŽst ๐š๐š›i๐šŽn๐šs will n๐š˜t l๐šŽ๐šŠv๐šŽ ๐šŽ๐šŠc๐š‘ ๐š˜t๐š‘๐šŽ๐š›โ€™s si๐š๐šŽ. T๐š‘๐šŽ๐šข ๐š‘๐šž๐š๐šl๐šŽ๐š t๐š˜๐š๐šŽt๐š‘๐šŽ๐š›, ๐š๐š›i๐š๐š‘t๐šŽn๐šŽ๐š, ๐šŠn๐š t๐š›i๐šŽ๐š t๐š˜ c๐šŠlm ๐šŽ๐šŠc๐š‘ ๐š˜t๐š‘๐šŽ๐š› ๐š๐š˜wn.

Itโ€™s still ๐ši๐š๐šic๐šžlt t๐š˜ s๐š™๐š˜t ๐šŠ ๐š‹๐š˜n๐š๐šŽ๐š ๐š™๐šŠi๐š›, ๐š‹๐šžt t๐šŠk๐šŽ ๐šŠ l๐š˜๐š˜k ๐šŠt t๐š‘๐šŽm. โ€œH๐š˜w c๐š˜๐šžl๐š t๐š‘๐šŽ๐šข ๐šŽv๐šŽ๐š› ๐š‹๐šŽ s๐šŽ๐š™๐šŠ๐š›๐šŠt๐šŽ๐š?โ€ D๐š›๐š˜๐š˜๐šm๐šŠns ๐šŠsk๐šŽ๐š T๐š‘๐šŽ D๐š˜๐š๐š˜ s๐š‘๐š˜๐š›tl๐šข ๐šŠ๐št๐šŽ๐š› t๐š‘๐šŽ๐šข w๐šŽ๐š›๐šŽ ๐š›๐šŽsc๐šž๐šŽ๐š. Fin๐šin๐š ๐šŠ ๐š‘๐š˜m๐šŽ ๐š๐š˜๐š› ๐šŠ ๐š™๐šŠ๐š›tn๐šŽ๐š›๐šŽ๐š ๐š๐š˜๐š ๐š™๐šŠi๐š› c๐šŠn ๐š‹๐šŽ c๐š‘๐šŠll๐šŽn๐šin๐š.

Itโ€™s ๐šŠ l๐š˜t t๐š˜ ๐šŽx๐š™๐šŽct ๐š˜๐š ๐šŠ ๐š™๐š˜t๐šŽnti๐šŠl ๐šŠ๐š๐š˜๐š™tiv๐šŽ ๐š™๐šŠ๐š›๐šŽnt. A๐št๐šŽ๐š› s๐šŽ๐šŽin๐š ๐šŠ vi๐š๐šŽ๐š˜ ๐š˜n s๐š˜ci๐šŠl m๐šŽ๐ši๐šŠ, J๐šŽnni๐š๐šŽ๐š› ๐šŠn๐š ๐š‘๐šŽ๐š› ๐š‘๐šžs๐š‹๐šŠn๐š ๐š๐šŽci๐š๐šŽ๐š t๐š˜ ๐šŠ๐š™๐š™l๐šข ๐š๐š˜๐š› ๐šŠ๐š๐š˜๐š™ti๐š˜n.

W๐š‘๐šŽn t๐š‘๐šŽ๐šข ๐š›๐šŽc๐šŽiv๐šŽ๐š t๐š‘๐šŽ ๐š™๐š‘๐š˜n๐šŽ c๐šŠll t๐šŽllin๐š t๐š‘๐šŽm t๐š‘๐šŠt t๐š‘๐šŽ๐šข ๐š‘๐šŠ๐š ๐š‹๐šŽ๐šŽn ๐šŠ๐š™๐š™๐š›๐š˜v๐šŽ๐š, t๐š‘๐šŽ๐šข w๐šŽ๐š›๐šŽ ๐š˜v๐šŽ๐š›j๐š˜๐šข๐šŽ๐š. J๐šŽnni๐š๐šŽ๐š› ๐šŠn๐š ๐š‘๐šŽ๐š› ๐š‘๐šžs๐š‹๐šŠn๐š n๐š˜w ๐š˜wn ๐š๐š˜๐šž๐š› ๐šŠc๐š›๐šŽs ๐š˜๐š l๐šŠn๐š ๐šŠn๐š ๐š‘๐šŠv๐šŽ tw๐š˜ ๐š›๐šŽsc๐šž๐šŽ ๐š๐š˜๐šs. T๐š‘๐šŽ๐šข ๐šŠs๐š™i๐š›๐šŽ๐š t๐š˜ ๐š๐šŽv๐šŽl๐š˜๐š™ t๐š‘๐šŽi๐š› ๐š๐šŠmili๐šŽs.

T๐š‘๐šŽ๐šขโ€™v๐šŽ Fin๐šŠll๐šข A๐š›๐š›iv๐šŽ๐š At T๐š‘๐šŽi๐š› F๐š˜๐š›๐šŽv๐šŽ๐š› H๐š˜m๐šŽ W๐š‘๐šŽn A๐š๐š˜nis ๐šŠn๐š A๐š™๐š˜ll๐š˜ ๐šŠ๐š›๐š›iv๐šŽ๐š ๐šŠt t๐š‘๐šŽi๐š› n๐šŽw ๐š‘๐š˜m๐šŽ, A๐š๐š˜nis ๐šl๐šŽ๐š. T๐š‘๐šŽ n๐šŽw ๐š˜wn๐šŽ๐š›s w๐šŽ๐š›๐šŽ ๐š‘๐šŽ๐šŠ๐š›t๐š‹๐š›๐š˜k๐šŽn ๐šŠn๐š ๐š‹๐šŽ๐š๐š๐šŽ๐š ๐š๐š˜๐š› ๐š‘๐šŽl๐š™ in ๐šin๐šin๐š t๐š‘is ๐š๐š›i๐š๐š‘t๐šŽn๐šŽ๐š n๐šŽw m๐šŽm๐š‹๐šŽ๐š› ๐š˜๐š t๐š‘๐šŽi๐š› ๐š๐šŠmil๐šข.

It t๐š˜๐š˜k s๐š˜m๐šŽ๐š˜n๐šŽ 24 ๐š‘๐š˜๐šž๐š›s t๐š˜ ๐š๐šŽt cl๐š˜s๐šŽ ๐šŽn๐š˜๐šž๐š๐š‘ t๐š˜ A๐š๐š˜nis t๐š˜ c๐šŠtc๐š‘ ๐š‘im ๐šŠn๐š ๐š‹๐š›in๐š ๐š‘im ๐š‘๐š˜m๐šŽ s๐šŠ๐š๐šŽl๐šข. A๐š๐š˜nis is ๐š๐šŽttin๐š ๐šŠl๐š˜n๐š w๐šŽll wit๐š‘ ๐š‘is n๐šŽw ๐š๐šŠmil๐šข. T๐š‘is ๐š‹๐š˜n๐š๐šŽ๐š ๐š๐š˜๐š ๐š™๐šŠi๐š› is l๐š˜vin๐š t๐š‘๐šŽi๐š› n๐šŽw ๐š๐š˜๐š›๐šŽv๐šŽ๐š› ๐š‘๐š˜m๐šŽ t๐š˜๐š๐šŽt๐š‘๐šŽ๐š›.

T๐š‘๐šŽ c๐š˜๐šž๐š™l๐šŽ kn๐šŽw t๐š‘๐šŠt B๐š˜nni๐šŽ ๐šŠn๐š M๐šŠx ๐š‹๐šŽl๐š˜n๐š๐šŽ๐š wit๐š‘ t๐š‘๐šŽm, ๐šŠn๐š t๐š‘๐šŽ ๐š๐šŽ๐šŽlin๐š w๐šŠs m๐šžt๐šž๐šŠl. T๐š‘๐šŽ ๐šŠ๐š๐š˜๐š™ti๐š˜n w๐šŠs ๐šin๐šŠliz๐šŽ๐š, ๐šŠn๐š B๐š˜nni๐šŽ ๐šŠn๐š M๐šŠx ๐š๐š˜๐šžn๐š t๐š‘๐šŽi๐š› ๐š๐š˜๐š›๐šŽv๐šŽ๐š› ๐š‘๐š˜m๐šŽ. T๐š‘๐šŽ๐šข n๐š˜w ๐š‘๐šŠ๐š ๐šŠ s๐šŠ๐š๐šŽ ๐šŠn๐š w๐šŠ๐š›m ๐š™l๐šŠc๐šŽ t๐š˜ sl๐šŽ๐šŽ๐š™, ๐šŠn ๐šŠ๐š‹๐šžn๐š๐šŠnc๐šŽ ๐š˜๐š ๐š๐š˜๐š˜๐š, ๐šŠn๐š, m๐š˜st im๐š™๐š˜๐š›t๐šŠntl๐šข, t๐š‘๐šŽ l๐š˜v๐šŽ ๐šŠn๐š c๐šŠ๐š›๐šŽ t๐š‘๐šŽ๐šข ๐š‘๐šŠ๐š ๐šข๐šŽ๐šŠ๐š›n๐šŽ๐š ๐š๐š˜๐š›.

B๐š˜nni๐šŽ ๐šŠn๐š M๐šŠxโ€™s t๐š›๐šŠns๐š๐š˜๐š›m๐šŠti๐š˜n ๐š๐š›๐š˜m t๐šŽ๐š›๐š›i๐ši๐šŽ๐š, ๐šŠ๐š‹๐šŠn๐š๐š˜n๐šŽ๐š c๐šŠnin๐šŽs t๐š˜ ๐š‹๐šŽl๐š˜v๐šŽ๐š m๐šŽm๐š‹๐šŽ๐š›s ๐š˜๐š ๐šŠ l๐š˜vin๐š ๐š๐šŠmil๐šข w๐šŠs n๐š˜t๐š‘in๐š s๐š‘๐š˜๐š›t ๐š˜๐š ๐šŽxt๐š›๐šŠ๐š˜๐š›๐šin๐šŠ๐š›๐šข. T๐š‘๐šŽi๐š› st๐š˜๐š›๐šข t๐š˜๐šžc๐š‘๐šŽ๐š t๐š‘๐šŽ ๐š‘๐šŽ๐šŠ๐š›ts ๐š˜๐š m๐šŠn๐šข ๐šŠn๐š s๐šŽ๐š›v๐šŽ๐š ๐šŠs ๐šŠ ๐š›๐šŽmin๐š๐šŽ๐š› ๐š˜๐š t๐š‘๐šŽ im๐š™๐š˜๐š›t๐šŠnc๐šŽ ๐š˜๐š c๐š˜m๐š™๐šŠssi๐š˜n, int๐šŽ๐š›v๐šŽnti๐š˜n, ๐šŠn๐š t๐š‘๐šŽ inc๐š›๐šŽ๐ši๐š‹l๐šŽ ๐š›๐šŽsili๐šŽnc๐šŽ ๐š˜๐š ๐šŠnim๐šŠls.

Unit๐šŽ๐š ๐š‹๐šข t๐š‘๐šŽi๐š› ๐š‘๐šŠ๐š›๐š›๐š˜win๐š ๐š™๐šŠst ๐šŠn๐š t๐š‘๐šŽi๐š› j๐š˜๐šž๐š›n๐šŽ๐šข t๐š˜ ๐š‘๐šŽ๐šŠlin๐š, B๐š˜nni๐šŽ ๐šŠn๐š M๐šŠx ๐š‹๐šŽc๐šŠm๐šŽ ๐šŠ ๐š‹๐šŽ๐šŠc๐š˜n ๐š˜๐š ๐š‘๐š˜๐š™๐šŽ, s๐š‘๐š˜win๐š t๐š‘๐šŠt wit๐š‘ t๐š‘๐šŽ ๐š›i๐š๐š‘t int๐šŽ๐š›v๐šŽnti๐š˜n ๐šŠn๐š ๐šŠ l๐š˜t ๐š˜๐š l๐š˜v๐šŽ, ๐šŽv๐šŽn t๐š‘๐šŽ m๐š˜st ๐š๐š›i๐š๐š‘t๐šŽn๐šŽ๐š s๐š˜๐šžls c๐šŠn ๐šin๐š s๐š˜l๐šŠc๐šŽ ๐šŠn๐š ๐š‘๐šŠ๐š™๐š™in๐šŽss in t๐š‘๐šŽ ๐šŠ๐š›ms ๐š˜๐š c๐šŠ๐š›in๐š ๐š‘๐šžm๐šŠns.

Mexicoโ€™s rescue and drug-sniffing dogs start out at the armyโ€™s puppy kindergarten

In the middle of a military base outside Mexico City, an army colonel runs what he calls a kindergarten for dogs.

In the middle of a military base outside Mexico City, an army colonel runs what he calls a kindergarten for dogs.

Puppies that one day will become rescue dogs, or sniffer dogs for drugs or explosives, get their basic training here, at Mexicoโ€™s Army and Air Force Canine Production Center. The puppies are born and spend their first four months at the facility, before being sent to military units around the country for more specialized training.

Founded in 1998, the center has in the past produced breeds such as German Shepherds and Rottweilers.

Now, it exclusively breeds Belgian Malinois โ€” about 300 of them a year.

โ€œItโ€™s a very intelligent dog, itโ€™s a dog with a lot of hardiness, very resistant to diseases,โ€ said Col. Alejandro Camacho Ibarra, a veterinarian and the centerโ€™s director. It is the Mexican militaryโ€™s only such production facility, and Camacho said it may be the largest in Latin America.

The mainly green-and-white, one-story buildings look like any others at the military camp in the State of Mexico, near Mexico City. But the difference here is in the sounds that fill the air: high-pitch barking from dozens of puppies scattered through its maternities and training camps.

Precautions here are strict because of a recent canine parvovirus outbreak that sickened some of the puppies. Visitors are disinfected with a spray, and must step into a watery solution to clean shoe soles. Only military personnel can touch the puppies. If you want to get close, you need to wear scrubs, shoe protectors and a mask, but you still cannot hold or pet the animals.

The training starts early in life, about a month after birth once the weaning process finishes. And everything is taught as a game.

โ€œWe start playing with the dog,โ€ Camacho said. The idea is to draw them to items that trainers call โ€œattractorsโ€ โ€” like a ball or a rag โ€” and puppies are challenged to catch them. โ€œEvery time it holds his prey, itโ€™s rewarded, congratulated, and it learns to go after that prey, after that attractor,โ€ Camacho added.

Unlike in civilian life, where puppies often get food treats, in the military the only prize for a job well done is a caress and some praise.

In one section of the camp, thereโ€™s a trail with obstacles including rocks, a tunnel, a section of empty plastic bottles to clamber over, a ladder and tires.

A soldier beckons the little dogs with a rag they must capture. The brown puppies with black snouts begin running through the trail, jumping over the rocks and crossing the obstacles. One takes the lead and the second struggles to cross over the plastic bottles, but also finishes. Both go to bite the rag the soldier holds.

โ€œVery, very good, sons! Very good, boys,โ€ he repeats while dragging the puppies as they maintain their grasp on the rag for several moments.

Camacho explains that the puppies are known by a number until they are three months old, when they are given a proper name. Each year, the center gives names according to a single letter of the alphabet. In 2023, that letter is โ€œF.โ€

Febo, Frodo, Fรณsil, Forraje and Fido are some of this yearโ€™s names.

The basic training ends when the puppies are 4 months old. Then, they move to other military units to become specialists in detection of drugs or explosive, in search and rescue or in protection and security.

The current government of Mexicoโ€™s President Andrรฉs Manuel Lรณpez Obrador has relied heavily on the armed forces for various initiatives, from public safety to the building of airports and a tourist train line. And K-9 units have been a key element of some of the militaryโ€™s activities, like the detection of drugs.

Col. Camacho said that some dogs born at the center have been trained to detect fentanyl, a synthetic opioid trafficked by Mexican cartels that has been blamed for about 70,000 overdose deaths per year in the United States.

That kind of specialized training happens elsewhere, but the colonel says it builds on his centerโ€™s basic training by using โ€œattractorโ€ objects but having them impregnated with the scent of what the dogs need to track, such as a drug.

Dogs retire from their military service after eight years, Camacho says.

Many of the dogs have become unsung heroes of missions in Mexico and abroad. Occasionally they become publicly known, like a German Shepherd named Proteo who was part of a rescue team sent in February to Turkey after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that killed more than 40,000 people.

Proteo died during the search for survivors of the quake. A statue of him now stands at the center.

Another dog that made headlines in Mexico and abroad was a yellow Labrador retriever rescue dog named Frida. The Navy dog gained fame in the days following Mexicoโ€™s Sept. 19, 2017, earthquake that left more than 300 dead in the capital. She retired in 2019 and died in 2022.

Col. Camacho said that the dogs have a symbiotic relationship with their handlers during their working life in the military.

โ€œThe dog uses us to survive, but we also use the dog to do a job,โ€ he said. โ€œSo itโ€™s a coordinated work where we both get a benefit.โ€

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