Dogs help the people of Mozambique
Case Study
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| Teacher's Notes | Student Activities |
| What problems are landmines causing for the people of Mozambique? |
For many years the people of Mozambique were involved in civil war. During the war armies had set landmines in fields, near sources of water and powerlines, along roads and railway lines and near schools and clinics. Landmines are designed to explode when people or animals step on them. Even though the war is over the landmines have not yet been removed, so people continue to be killed or injured as they try to go about their daily lives.
This has meant that people in some areas have not been able to return to their homes or grow food or raise cattle in their fields. The environment has been damaged leading to soil erosion and the people are frightened to go into their forests.
Mozambique is one of the poorest countries in the world. The landmines have made the country even poorer. There are few medical centres and so more than half of those who are injured die before they can receive first aid.
| How does Australia help? |
Australia responded early to calls for assistance and has been a leading contributor to demining programs in some of the worst mine affected countries in the world. Australia has committed over $35 million for demining related activities such as demining, landmine victim rehabilitation and mine awareness in Cambodia, Laos, Afghanistan, Mozambique and Angola.
Both AusAID and AUSTCARE have been involved in assisting in mine clearance and other programs. AusAID is the Australian Agency for International Development. It manages funds provided by the Australian government to assist people in developing countries to implement programs to meet their needs.
| Mine Dog Detection Project in Mozambique |
One of the most successful projects has been the Mine Dog Detection Project in Mozambique. AUSTCARE, with funding from AusAID, is working with the Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) in this project. NPA is employing Norwegian Defence Force Training Instructors who have used dogs in other countries to detect mines. This NPA group is training local people in Mozambique to be dog handlers. NPA presently employs and trains 560 Mozambican staff in demining activities.
Dogs are being used because they have a tremendous ability to recognise the odour of different chemicals. Traditional demining methods which use metal detectors and prodders have been less efficient and are very time consuming. Dogs are more useful than metal detectors in areas with hard surfaces such as roads and paths and in large uncleared areas where no one knows if there is one mine or a thousand mines. Metal detectors are attracted to metal even if it is not a mine. Dogs are not. They are trained to smell explosive chemicals which are the main component of all types of mines and ammunition. Dogs have proven to be most effective in areas with a low density of mines because they cover a lot of ground quickly.
German Shepherds and Labrador Retrievers are the most commonly selected breeds for explosive and mine detection work. The dogs have been used successfully for road clearance and checking whether agricultural land is safe to use.
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Injury or loss of life of dogs or handlers is a possible risk in this project. Therefore it is essential to ensure high quality training to keep handlers and dogs safe. Dogs are trained in the 'passive response' method which teaches them to retreat to a position directly behind a mine and adopt an upright-sitting stance. This position signals the handler that an unexploded mine has been detected. This method ensures the safety of the dogs. So far no dogs have been injured by mines in this project.
Dog handlers receive eight months training. They learn:
- to care for the dogs
- social interaction with the dog
- first aid
- operation of the dog collar
- seeking with dog
- reading dog signals
- feeding
- mine knowledge
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