Death row dog begins new life at prison

Four months ago a short haired german pointer called Hank was close to a walk down death row at an animal shelter. Then jail saved him.

Hank had been dropped off at the Waitakere Animal Shelter in Auckland last year and faced destruction if not claimed for a good home.

Then corrections officer and drug dog handler Mo Toeke at Northland's Ngawha Prison was told about the dog by a staff member at the shelter.

Hank was found to be a sound retrieving dog so Mr Toeke began training him to be a drug dog.

An eight-week course at the New Zealand Police Dog Training College in Wellington taught Hank to sniff out cannabis, methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and other drugs.

How drug dogs are trained is a closely-guarded secret but Hank was a star pupil.

He and Mr Toeke are now a close-knit team together 24 hours a day with their mission to detect drugs in the prison, on visitors, and in their vehicles on a random basis.

Mr Toeke had the idea that helped to set up New Zealand's first drug dog unit at Paremoremo maximum security prison in 1989.

He and his dogs worked about eight different prison sites around New Zealand and with the Agriculture Ministry, but where drawn back to Northland when the Ngawha Corrections Facility opened in April.

Ngawha prison received its first seven prisoners on April 29. Each Friday another seven will arrive. The capacity is 350 inmates.

The drug-busting pair haven't detected any drugs at Ngawha so far.

- NORTHERN ADVOCATE (WHANGAREI)