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By Bae Ji-sook
The doors are opening for Jindo, South Korea’s indigenous top breed of dogs, to be used in the canine units of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), Korea’s Jindo Dog Promotion and Innovation Agency said, Thursday.
The LAPD will dispatch two canine trainers to Jindo County of South Jeolla Province to screen dozens of Jindos to pick four candidate dogs aged less than three months to go to the U.S. for training.
After training, two will be used by the LAPD and the other two by the nearby Glendale police department.
An LAPD official was quoted by Yonhap as saying: “We are looking for the best police dog. It is an honor to train and use the Jindo.”
The Jindo breed of dogs is Korean natural treasure No. 53.
Such moves come as the group promoting the dog contacted the American police departments to highlight the animal’s merits and characteristics in April.
The promotion agency has been focusing on the management of the breed, training and development of dog exports and has been supported by the Ministry of Knowledge and Economy.
“If the Jindo becomes one of the official American police dogs, it will be a great opportunity to promote it and Korea simultaneously to the world,” a group spokesman said.
진돗개, LA 경찰견 준비 중
진돗개 축산사업소는 목요일 국내 최고 명견인 진돗개가 LA 경찰견으로 쓰이게 됐다고 밝혔다.
LA 경찰국은 25일(현지시간) 경찰견 트레이닝 부서 K9 소속 2명의 전문가를 한국의 전남 진도로 파견, 경찰견으로 조련하기에 적합한 3개월 이하 짜리 진돗개 4마리를 우선 고르기로 했다.
훈련 후 2마리는 LA 경찰국에 남어지 두 마리는 인근 글렌데일 경찰국에 배정할 계획이다.
연합통신은 “최상의 경찰견을 찾고 있는데 진돗개를 훈련시켜 사용하게 된 것을 매우 영광으로 생각한다”고 LA경찰의 말을 인용 보도했다.
진돗개는 한국 천연기념물 53호로 지정되어있다.
진돗개가 해외 경찰견으로 조련되기는 이번이 처음이다.
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