Türkiye hosts international sniffer dog competition

ANKARA (AA) – A three-day international competition featuring sniffer dogs from several countries is underway in Türkiye’s capital Ankara.

The event, which began on Tuesday, has 10 dogs from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Uzbekistan, and the host Türkiye.

A specially bred sniffer dog named Nobel is representing Türkiye in the competition.

The event has four stages – Box Search, Vehicle Search, Room Search, and Obedience.

The contest is part of Türkiye’s efforts to enhance domestic and international cooperation to combat smuggling, according to Bekir Can Uslu, general manager of Customs Enforcement at the Trade Ministry.

He said Türkiye has 224 sniffer dogs and 36 puppies, which are trained in various areas including narcotics, explosives, weapons and ammunition, humans, cash and security.