PHNOM PENH – Cambodia is to send three mine-sniffing dogs to Ukraine for clearance operations.

Three dogs had been bought recently and would be sent to Ukraine soon, Heng Ratana, director of the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) said. 

Cambodia has also supported Ukraine’s demining efforts in other ways. In 2022, the country, with support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency, began training Ukrainian deminers, who are dealing with a significant presence of landmines and leftover munitions from Russia’s invasion.

Ratana said about 50 dogs trained in Cambodia have taken part in mine clearance in countries including Turkey, Syria, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Colombia. 

Demining dogs have been saving people from anti-personnel mines and explosive remnants of war (ERWs) for over two decades. They have played crucial roles in demining for CMAC. 

In Cambodia, training demining dogs began with assistance from the Swedish government from 1996 to 1997, during which CMAC relied heavily on resources and technical assistance from foreign partners, including imported dogs. 

However, CMAC has now become autonomous in managing funding, technical training and dog breeding. Now, it works closely with animal training organisation APOPO.

“Currently, CMAC has nearly 300 demining dogs, both in training and in operation. For drug-detecting dogs, we have trained only 10 of them for the National Police,” Ratana said.  

The training dogs undergo is extensive. Typically, they begin training as young as two weeks and continue until they turn eight months. This period includes a basic program. 

They then take tests three times before obtaining their license. Trainers help dogs choose a specialty in a comprehensive program lasting up to six months, depending on their capabilities. 

There are different types of specialties for dogs, such as mine detection, human detection, the management of protests or riots, and the detection of ERWs. 

It can take about a year to train a dog to be effective in detecting mines or drugs.  However, in most cases, a combination of training involving both human trainers and dogs is required, which can be as brief as three or four months. 

“One dog can stay in demining operations for up to 12 years, but based on experience, they can only do it for between eight and nine years, as they need to retire or some die,” Ratana said.