Delhi airport's top sniffer dog Sweety battles cancer

She has been a hero. She has been part of more than 150 operations at the sensitive Delhi airport. Her nose has been just perfect.

However, diagnosed with cancer recently, Sweety- the top sniffer dog guarding the airport as part of the CISF dog squad for nearly a decade-is now due for a painful retirement.

Her mammary tumour, which is malignant, was noticed during a training session as she was not in her usual, jovial self. "Doctors told us that she has cancer and it will take time to remove the tumour. After analysing for almost five days, an immediate surgery was required for which we took her to Bareilly where she was operated," said her handler Mohan Singh.

Until a few months ago, Sweety-a light brown-coloured Labrador-was often seen walking around the Delhi airport, alert as always in detecting anything suspicious. Now, she spends most her time in a secluded air-conditioned room away from the clamour of the airport.

Sweety was the main sniffer dog when in October last year three international aircraft had received bomb threat calls after takeoff. Sweety led the operation and within hours, the aircraft were sanitised, recalls Mohan, who has not lost hope and expects her to be back in action soon. Sweety joined the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on December 4, 2006, and after almost one year training, she was inducted in November 2007.

"She has done a perfect job every time she was pressed into action," said Mohan, patting a frail-looking Sweety, recalling the days when she was one of the toughest canines in the force.

Mohan, who has been with Sweety for the past six years, has several anecdotes to share. "Recently, a baggage carrying some suspicious element was noticed. Hi-tech gadgets were used to scan the baggage, which raised an alarm. Finally, Sweety was called and she gave her clearance to it. When the baggage was opened, harmless chemical was found," he said.

Impressive Mohan added with a chuckle that senior officers were very impressed with Sweety and ordered a special treat for her. Though, she has got the finest treatment but still she is not agile enough to be put in action again. According to the CISF, she is among the best sniffer canines in the bomb disposal squad and despite not being in action for the last three months, she is still very popular among the squad officials.

"Sweety is above all with her sniffing abilities but after being diagnosed with cancer, her health has quite deteriorated. She is as old as a 70-year-old man but she is still ready to serve the nation," said a CISF officer.

According to Mohan, Sweety is very friendly, especially with children. "She knows her job but was never shy of mingling with passengers during duty hours."

For more than a month, she was not able to walk, confined to a room and also forced to sleep in a particular position. Though her doctor has given her a green signal, she is not involved in recent operations as she is not fully fit.

When asked about Sweety's post-retirement plan, CISF said there is a board who decides the future of dogs serving the force. "She may get a new owner after a prescribed auction. Many civilians buy dogs from the force as they are very disciplined and obedient. It may be possible that she stays with CISF if the board decides that we have to take care of her during her last days. She will retire in a couple of months," Sweety's handler explained.

"From top official to lower level staff, everyone has to leave Delhi airport due to posting but we normally don't transfer dog handlers as they treat their dogs as family.

Once a dog trainer was transferred, he went to the headquarters and cried for almost 20 minutes when he was asked to leave his dog. Later, the order was cancelled on emotional ground," a senior CISF official, responsible for security of airports, told Mail Today.