Sweden has donated 10 mine-sniffing dogs to help Cambodia remove the threat from leftover land mines.
Cambodia started using dogs to help with mine clearing in 1999. An estimated 4 million to 6 million land mines and other unexploded ordnance from more than three decades of armed conflict maim or kill many Cambodians each year.
The dogs spent eight months training in Bosnia-Herzegovina, another of the world’s most heavily mined countries, and were to train an additional four months in Cambodia before starting work.
Each dog is valued at about US$40,000 including the cost of training, said Heng Ratana, deputy director-general of Cambodian Mine Action Center.
Cambodia currently has 56 mine-sniffing dogs, but six will be retired in March.
Mine-sniffing dogs generally have a working life of up to 12 years, but Cambodia’s hot climate limits their working time to about six years, he said.
