In the beginning

The PDU was started in Fanling in 1949 with just four German shepherds, used for patrol duties. Several relocations later, today the PDU Headquarters is sprawled out over more than 2 hectares of green meadows in Sha Ling, close to the Hong Kong-Shenzhen border. There are over 200 dogs in the unit, with 140 in active service.

"We have our own breeding program," says PDU Chief Inspector Erica Fan Chin-ting. "We begin by selecting the most suitable dogs — a male and a female — and then conduct X-rays and DNA tests to ensure they are a perfect match." Besides breeding dogs in-house, the PDU also sources dogs from the Chinese mainland, the United Kingdom and Europe.

By their first birthdays, puppies are started on a basic training program, tailored to the specific roles they are expected to play. Police dogs are categorized by function: patrolling, drug detection, tracking down explosives, and sniffing out arms and ammunition.