A press conference on the final report on coronavirus detection dog training took place on Tuesday. In the presence of Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner, the commander of the Military Dog Center, Colonel Otto Koppitsch, presented the final results of the Covid detection dog training together with the head of the veterinary department, Colonel Michael Kreiner.
The trial phase for training a coronavirus sniffer dog in the Austrian Armed Forces began in June 2020. The training and testing on our own dogs was successfully completed; in future, the focus will be on training cooperation in the international arena. “Corona detection dog training can be seen as a successful contribution to the fight against the Covid-19 virus. I am pleased to say that our soldiers at the military dog center have laid an important foundation for scientific research. This is already demonstrated by a cooperation that has been launched. In the future, our military dog experts will continue to work in the field of research and contribute their know-how to such training within the framework of collaborations,” said Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner.
In a letter of intent at the end of September, the city of Leipzig expressed its interest in cooperation and scientific support. They are interested in deploying the trained sniffer dog teams as quickly as possible and will take into account the requirements of the Military Dog Center in the training and further education of the dogs. Cooperation with the city of Leipzig has already begun. A scientific publication has also already been initiated in collaboration with the University of Vienna. Last year, the military dog center started training with a Belgian shepherd dog. The dog’s high willingness to work and its joyful yet calm search behavior were an advantage here. The basic training of the first Covid military dog “Fantasy Forever vom Seetalblick” lasted a total of six months. Later, a Rottweiler was also brought in for training. An interim report in December confirmed for the first time in Austria that sniffer dogs can sniff out the coronavirus using mouth-nose protection masks.
