These days, service dogs play a vital role in the work of law enforcement agencies.
Just as they did more than 100 years ago, they play an active role in solving crimes.
But how, when, and where did the use of these four-legged friends in police work begin in our beloved city?
On January 11, way back in 1908, the “Russian Society for the Promotion of the Use of Dogs in Police and Guard Duty” was established as part of the Police Department. The society’s founders sought to familiarize police officers with methods of training and raising dogs, as well as their care and maintenance. However, the primary focus was on the practical application of service dogs’ skills. In addition, the Police Department sent out inquiries to all provinces, asking them to report on the availability of service dogs and their experience using them in police work. In reality, it turned out that virtually no one had any such experience.
By the fall of 1908, the situation had changed. Service and search dogs were already in use in many cities throughout the Russian Empire.
The training center for the Kharkiv Criminal Investigation Department was not established until January 1910.
Paradoxically, one of the main reasons for its establishment was the extremely high crime rate in the Sumy District, which was home to a large number of factories and plants. The issue of acquiring police dogs to effectively solve crimes was raised by the governor of Kharkiv himself—N. K. Katerinich.
In early 1910, Police Inspector Stelmakh of the Kharkiv Criminal Investigation Department and Agent Pushkar of the same department were sent to the St. Petersburg kennel of the “Russian Society for the Promotion of the Use of Dogs” for police and guard duty. There, they completed a full course on dog training, care, and medical treatment. They also purchased four bloodhounds: Max, Gerta, Arap, and Geska.
Subsequently, 11 more police dogs were purchased from the kennel of Baron Raden, the Talsen District Chief.
By the end of 1910, the Kharkiv kennel already housed 15 police dogs: 11 German Shepherds and 4 Doberman Pinschers. They were considered so valuable and important that during the winter they were housed in the courtyard of the governor’s residence, in a specially equipped shed.
The police dog kennel of the Kharkiv Criminal Investigation Department would go on to become one of the best in the empire. Interested readers can learn more about its history, for example, in V. M. Chisnikov’s article “Tracking Dogs in the Service of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Russian Empire.”
The textbook *Guide to the Training of Police and Military Dogs*, published by the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ printing office, underwent its third, substantially expanded reprint in 1911. This fact shows just how much attention was paid to this topic.
This textbook can truly be called a foundational work—many of the training methods published in it have been incorporated into subsequent works on the training of service dogs.
However, it must be acknowledged that the basic concepts and terminology of dog training originated in Germany, where there was far more experience in the field than in the Russian Empire.
Translated in 1912, the book by Robert Gersbach, one of Germany’s most renowned dog experts, enjoyed considerable success.
A branch of the “Society for the Promotion of the Use of Dogs in Police and Guard Service” was opened in Kharkiv on November 24, 1911.
The importance of this to the city can be gauged by its leadership:
the governor of Kharkiv, N. K. Katerinich, himself became chairman of the Kharkiv Society.
The presidium consisted of:
— Deputy Chairman—the mayor, Professor A. K. Pogorelko
—Vice Governor I. I. Sterligov
—Kharkiv Police Chief K. M. Bocharov
— V. N. Stelmakh, Police Inspector of the Criminal Investigation Department
— S. A. Boguslavsky, First Chief of the Criminal Investigation Department
The Company’s published articles of incorporation stated, in particular:
§ 3
The Company’s activities consist of the following:
a) gathering information and compiling materials on the use of dogs in police and guard duties in Russia and abroad;
b) maintaining and publishing kennel registries and pedigrees;
c) acting as an intermediary between breeding establishments and police agencies and officials wishing to acquire purebred dogs;
d) publishing instructions and manuals for the training, education, practical use, and care of police dogs;
e) developing standard programs for testing police dogs;
f) organizing public competitions and trials for police dogs, with special prizes awarded to trainers and breeders;
g) publishing a journal, as well as other brochures, consistent with the Society’s objectives.§ 4
The company exercises the right to:
b) establish model kennels and breeding facilities for the breeding and sale of dogs;
c) organize annual exhibitions, competitions, and trials for police dogs in accordance with the established rules governing such events;
d) to award prizes, medals, and commendations, as well as certificates, at exhibitions, competitions, and trials…
Section 13 may come as quite a surprise to us:
Members of the Society who make inappropriate comments about the Society, violate its interests, insult the Society’s elected officers, or engage in any improper conduct or irregularities in the purchase, sale, or exchange of dogs—shall be expelled from the Society by resolution of the Society’s Board, following a prior request for an explanation from them. A member expelled from the Society shall be granted a period of two weeks, starting from the date of the announcement of the expulsion, to appeal the Council’s decision to the General Meeting of Society members by submitting a complaint through the Council.
Note 1. Any member expelled from the Society shall be reimbursed for all dues paid to the Society.Note 2. A person who has been expelled from the Society may not be readmitted.
We can learn about crimes in Sloboda Ukraine that were solved with the help of police dogs from documents held at the State Archives of the Kharkiv Region (GAHO).
The events described there and the dogs’ actions are so interesting that they could serve as the basis for a short television series about the history of Kharkiv.
Here’s an example:
In this case, the dog had to work under relatively unfavorable conditions, since the perpetrators had left no items behind at the crime scene and, furthermore, many strangers had entered the storeroom where the chest was kept after the theft and had handled the chest and other items.
When the guide let the dog, Hex, sniff the part of the chest that the thieves who had stolen the money might have touched with their hands, the dog immediately picked up the scent, leading from the pantry first into the porch, then into the room (which the thief had apparently entered), and from there into the courtyard, out onto the street, and further on, toward the pasture.
Following instructions from the aforementioned Nedelka, the money was also found: 62 rubles were found in the possession of the peasant Miroshnechenko, and 8 rubles had been buried in the ground near Nedelka’s sister’s house. The money was handed over to the victim, and the preliminary investigation will be transferred to the appropriate court.
I have the honor to report the above to Your Excellency
The exploits of Gekse, the heroine of the Kharkiv Police Department’s detective unit, were so remarkable that, as the documents state, peasants came from many villages and farmsteads just to see her.
So, of course, there will definitely be a follow-up about our Kharkiv “Lessi.”
