Stray dogs.

We tend to think of military dogs as being highly trained German Shepherds or the like. But in Jammu & Kashmir in the north of India the Army are using stray dogs to help keep the border safe.

Even though the Army uses sophisticated technology such as sensors, thermal imagers and advanced infantry weapons, infiltrators still find gaps to sneak through:

Col N K Airy, spokesperson of the Army’s 10 division, says: “We decided to the train the mongrels following shortage of pedigree dogs. They are smart and useful in this terrain.”

Col Airy says the strays can recognise troops and civilians and starts barking whenever they observe any movement of strangers near the fence. ”They cannot be identified by the infiltrators.” It is easy to train these dogs, which do not need special diet like the breeds. ”They learn quickly with little training,” says Col Airy. …

[Via : On the border, stray dogs are Army's new best friends - India - NEWS - The Times of India.]

It sounds as though everybody wins with this one. The strays are taken off the streets and given a purpose and some food, while the Army get to save money and do a better job of keeping the border secure.

Photo courtesy of The Drunk Santa Blog: The Darker Side of The Stray Dogs, with a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License