PEOPLE living in one of Scotland's furthest-flung outposts are raising money for their own drugs detection dog amid growing concerns around the level of illegal substance abuse.
A campaign has been launched in Orkney to raise £100,000 to pay for the sniffer dog and its handler, who would assist police officers during drug sweeps and anti-smuggling operations at ferry ports and the airport.
Last year almost 30 drug busts took place on the islands, turning up consignments of all classes of drugs including heroin and cocaine. Substances dubbed 'legal highs', which were only made illegal last year, were also seized by officers.
But the area has no drug dog of its own and has to rely on specialist animal-handling officers and their canine counterparts travelling over from the mainland.
People on Shetland set up their own community-funded sniffer dog scheme in 2001, and that organisation has been advising campaigners on Orkney.
Following concerns originally raised by the islands' Community Safety Partnership around the level of drug misuse and the knock on family and social effects, Orkney Drugs Dog has been set up to provide drugs education and detection services.
Financial support for the project has already been received from individuals, community organisations and the Orkney Alcohol and Drugs Partnership, together with W. R. Tullock & Sons Ltd who have provided a second hand vehicle, and Orkney Builders Contractors Ltd who have agreed to build a kennel.
Andrew Drever, Chairman of the Orkney Drugs Dog steering group, said: "We hope to raise £100,000 to get it off the ground and it will cost about £50,000-a-year to run.
"If we can make an impact in helping create a safer environment that will be very good. The drugs problem here has been growing over the last ten years - and while it is not as bad as some other areas - we want to nip it in the bud. There has also been a move from soft drugs to hard drugs here.
"The handler and the dog will have to be Police Scotland and Home Office approved but I am hopeful we will be able to have them operational in a year.
"For the past year, and more, the steering group have been working closely with Voluntary Action Orkney to establish our constitution, charity registration and job specifications."
Mr Drever added: "Two new posts will be created in support of the initiative: a development officer, who will source future funding and carry out community engagement work, and a specialist dog handler. Once these posts are filled, we will then be in a position to search for a suitable dog to become our drugs detection dog.
"We are grateful to Orkney Alcohol and Drugs Partnership for providing initial funding to cover the set-up costs and to Police Scotland for agreeing to provide assistance for the duration of the training and licensing process.
"We're also grateful for the valuable assistance and advice from Shetland's Dogs Against Drug team who have considerable experience and have been successfully operational for some years."
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