TOKYO (AFP) – A Japanese police department on Friday appointed a chihuahua as a member of its disaster rescue squad, where it will serve alongside retrievers and German shepherds.
Seven-year-old Momo, or "Peach", earned its top dog credentials when it passed a canine rescue test last week and is set to join the force in January, said a spokeswoman for the Nara Police Department in western Japan.
The three-kilogramme (seven-pound) dog was given the scent of a human "survivor" in a disaster simulation and took under five minutes to sniff out the target person in a 100 square metre (1,100 square foot) area.
"It's quite rare for us to have a chihuahua work as a police dog," the spokeswoman said.
Chihuahuas, named after a Mexican state, are the smallest breed of dog.
"We would like it to work hard by taking advantage of its small size," a Nara police department official told the Sankei Shimbun daily.
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