CHENNAI: Police dogs are trained to sniff out narcotics, but they obviously don’t know how to deal with a snake in their kennel. The sniffer dogs attached to the bomb detection and disposal squad of the CISF at the airport kept barking through Sunday night, and only late on Monday morning did the trainers find the cause of their discomfort: A king cobra .

Dog trainers said they spotted the snake inside the enclosure where the older dogs were kept. “We immediately shifted the dogs out,” said a source. Soon, forest department workers came and caught the snake.

Airport officials said two dogs were shifted from the kennel on Sunday night after the poisonous snake was found inside. Dog trainers spotted the snake after dogs have started barking inside the congested kennel.

“There were two older dogs in the kennel where the snake was found. They managed to evacuate both dogs and informed the forest officials who caught the snake on Monday morning,” said a source.

Sniffer dogs attached to the airport live in congested and unsafe kennels next to an open scrub jungle near the Air Traffic Controllers tower. A senior official said this was in violation of norms set by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security that insists the sniffer dogs be kept in air-conditioned and safe living spaces. “Here, only one air-conditioner is working and many dogs live under metal roofs in summer,” said the official.

The sniffer dogs were shifted to the existing kennel last year for a short span after AAI promised a better facility. But construction of the new living space for the dogs is yet to be completed. “The kennel in Chennai is the worst in the country,” said a CISF official. A senior airport official said a new kennel facility is ready at Pazhavanthangal which would be handed over to the CISF in a fortnight.

Ten sniffer dogs are 13 trainers are attached to the bomb squad of the CISF.

