SA Police Durban Dog Unit in the 1960s and 1970s

DURBAN SA POLICE DOG UNIT IN THE 1960S AND 1970S

Sid Brettell. May 2025

Many older Durban residents may remember the large police squad cars with dog kennels in the rear seat area and the long metal aerials on the side of the vehicles bending backwards as they raced off to another crime in progress. There were a variety of vehicles used including Ford or Chevrolet vans with the Studebaker Larks being favoured for their V8 engines and compact chassis and incredible acceleration. Other vehicles were Ford Fairlanes and Valiant sedans.

My first recollection about police dogs and their handlers was my mom reading the Natal Mercury in the mid-1960s on a Saturday morning when she remarked “these dogs are amazing”. She then went on to talk about the latest arrest of a criminal that had been caught committing a housebreaking, robbery or other serious crime.

The newspaper reports about the successes of the Durban Dog unit in the 1960s and 70s were regular to the point where many readers knew the names of the handlers and their dogs. This created an enhanced sense of safety and admiration for these men and dogs who fearlessly went into dangerous situations not knowing what may lie in wait for them.

One of the factors creating such positive feeling about the Dog Unit was that they had a very open relationship with the two Durban daily newspapers. Leon Mellett, the Natal Mercury crime reporter and Gehri Strauss, the Daily News crime reporter were allowed to crew with the dog handlers, particularly on night shifts. They were able to see firsthand how audacious and violent criminals were and the despair and suffering of victims of crime. They saw the bravery and determination of the policemen trying to deal with crime and violence. I wish magistrates and judges would be exposed to crime scenes to get a better understanding of the consequences of crime and its impact on the victims.

Tracker dogs had been used successfully by the police in rural areas for many years but the idea of using dogs for police patrols in cities as an aid to detecting criminals hiding in buildings or overgrown areas as well as apprehending fleeing criminals rather than resorting to firearms only came into being in 1962.

Among the first Durban Dog Handlers trained in 1962 and assigned back to Durban were Sergeant Piet Van Rooyen who was the first commander and his dog Beauty, Laurie Kaplan and Rex (Kaplan was later a successful businessman and Durban City Councillor in the 1980’s) and Tjaart Riekert and Fritz. Riekert and his dog were killed in a landmine explosion in 1972 on the Caprivi Strip whilst on Counter Insurgency duties.

Tjaart Riekert and Fritz

The first few years of the Durban Police Dog Unit was so successful that within a year of deploying the first dogs and handlers a medal of Honour for Courage and Faithfulness was established by authorities and awarded to a number of the unit.

The first medal awarded to a Durban dog handler was awarded to Constable Manie Odendaal and Prince.

On the 5^th of November 1964 Odendaal arrested a suspected housebreaker and took him to a police station. He also took Prince into the charge office with him whilst he questioned the man. During the discussion the man produced a knife and attacked Odendaal, screaming that he was going to kill him. Prince, who seemed to have been forgotten, attacked the man from behind dragging him to the ground where he was disarmed. Prince’s action saved his handler’s life and he was awarded the medal of honour for courage and faithfulness.

In 2022, I went to visit Manie who was then in his mid-80s and not in good health. He produced his old scrap book with newspaper and court reports whilst we discussed old cases including a famous case in 1964 of the Burman Bush rapist who preyed on lovers in their motor cars. Odendaal saw a man matching the description of the rapist near the Scout camp. He fled when challenged. Odendaal released Prince and they gave chase that resulted in a cliff top struggle above an old quarry where the suspect tried to push Odendaal over the edge. With the assistance of Prince, the man was arrested and later convicted of a number of charges.

Photo taken 2022: From left to right: Doug Linden (Course of 1974) Sid Brettell (Course of 1972) Manie Odendaal (Course of 1963)

Constable Johnny Aissing and patrol dog Charlie were awarded a medal resulting from an incident on the 14^th of September 1965. Constable Gert Van den Bergh from Umbilo Police station arrested two suspects from an armed robbery near the Berea Road railway station when one of the suspects produced a revolver and shot him just below his throat with the bullet travelling to his chest organs. Aissing and Charlie sped to the scene and proceeded to a dark lane where Charlie picked up a scent which led to the fire escape of a block of flats and up on the second floor Charlie found two men hiding behind large pot plants. A 38 revolver was found nearby which was the firearm used in shooting Van den Bergh, who recovered after several months in a critical condition.

A contributing reason for the award to Charlie was another crime incident in the Warwick Avenue Market area where Aissing and Charlie attended an armed robbery and confronted the robber. The robber produced a knife and attempted to stab Aissing. Charlie attacked the man saving Aissing. The robber then turned his attention to Charlie, stabbing him in the neck, but Charlie held onto the man until Aissing could overpower and arrest him. The Dog Unit had a Veterinary practice on call for such incidents and their timely treatment saved the many dogs who were stabbed on duty. The first vet was Eric Gordon who donated a trophy awarded to the dog that made the most first schedule offences (serious crime) in a year.

On 19 July 1966 Constable Brian Boucher and Rusty together with other police members were sent to Clermont township near Pinetown to look for an escaped prisoner. The prisoner had been sentenced to life imprisonment for a number of serious offences and was wanted in connection with seven additional charges of armed robbery and attempted murder. This was a very dangerous man who was thought to be armed. The policemen approached a house where the escapee was suspected of hiding and as it was after 10pm they hoped to catch him asleep.

The man however was awake and spotted the police approaching the house. He jumped out of a window and opened fire on the policemen before jumping a fence and running off. Boucher released Rusty who chased after the man who fired two shots at Rusty before disappearing into the darkness. Boucher and the other policemen ran in the general direction of where the suspect was last seen heading off into the bush with Rusty close on his heels.

After some minutes, the police heard barking and realised that Rusty had found the man. Boucher ran in the direction of the barking and found that Rusty was holding onto the man who was then arrested. Rusty was not deterred by the shooting and his courage and determination was the key reason that a dangerous criminal was put behind bars. Rusty was awarded the medal for courage and faithfulness.

The Dog Unit was often asked to accompany detectives when looking to arrest dangerous suspects especially when the place where they hoped to find the criminal was near bush or other place that could have likely escape routes. In February 1967 Constable Phillip Sonnekus and Rex were asked to accompany Murder and Robbery detectives to arrest a suspect who was wanted for charges of murder and armed robbery. The suspect was believed to be at an address in Kwa Mashu. They approached the house around 3 am.

The suspect was alert and realised that the house was surrounded by police. He called out that he would shoot the first person who tried to enter the house. The police broke a number of windows simultaneously around the house. The detectives distracted the man whilst Sonnekus lifted Rex through a broken window so he could attack the man. That was a sign to storm the house from multiple points. As Sonnekus and others got into the house, they saw Rex in a violent struggle with the man who was beating Rex with a shovel. They overpowered the man and found a .25 pistol in his pocket. Rex’s attack had prevented him from getting to the gun. Rex’s bravery had effected the arrest without any harm to the policeman and he was awarded the medal for courage and faithfulness.

Brian Boucher with Rusty and Johnny Aissing with Charlie. Both dogs are wearing their medals.

On 12 December 1967 Sergeant Fred Pautz and Caro were sent to Tongaat beach to search for an armed robber who had fled into the mangrove forest. The mangrove area was very dense with a tangle of roots, branches and trailing vines. Pautz was shown the place where the man had entered the bush and Caro picked up the scent. They had to crawl on their stomach in parts and when they felt they were close, Caro was released and ran rapidly towards a tree. Caro jumped up and grabbed the leg of the suspect who had climbed the tree. The man produced a firearm and shot at Pautz and Caro. Pautz returned fire wounding the man who fell from the tree whilst Caro continued to hang onto him, preventing him from running away or using his gun. Pautz arrested the man and found that Caro has sustained a bullet wound to his jaw. Caro had held onto his man in spite of the injury and was awarded the medal for courage and faithfulness.

On 2 September 1970 Pautz and Caro attended a housebreaking in premises in Williams Road, Umbilo. Suspecting that the criminals may still be in the premises he released Caro to search for the robbers. Sometime later Caro returned to Pautz and collapsed and died. It was found that a bucket containing cyanide was in the premises and Caro had eaten or drank from the bucket. This was a reminder that policemen and their dogs usually attended the most serious crimes and occasionally were injured or killed in the line of duty.

Records of how many times the medal was awarded show that 33 were issued from 1964 to 1994. There is no record of any further medals being issued since. Sadly, the police leadership no longer value the use of dogs so the number of police dogs and handlers have been significantly reduced and the dog school in Pretoria has closed. Presently when dogs are used in arrests they are subjected to minute investigation to see that the use was justified with the risk of potential disciplinary or criminal action.

The Durban Dog Unit was the leader in South Africa with many Durban members passing promotion exams to Lieutenant and assigned to Dog Units across the country, including West Rand, East Rand and senior positions at the Police Dog School in Pretoria. That was to spread the Durban ethos and manner of using dogs to maximum effect. At its peak, the Durban Dog Unit comprised over 40 dogs and handlers in the early 1970s. There would be around 10 dog unit vehicles on duty across Durban at any time.

The risk to dogs and handlers increased significantly in the late 1980s and early 1990s where the proliferation of weapons from unrest and political uncertainty resulted in dog handlers being despatched to false complaints that were in fact ambushes. The police were met with fire from armed groups using automatic weapons. Even ordinary criminals operated in large gangs and could be expected to have firearms, often outgunning the police.

Of the 33 medal winners, 12 were from Durban. Medals continued to be won after some of these earlier cases from the 1960s I have related here. The bravery of those Durban dog handlers and their dogs awarded medals deserves mention here.

• 11 June 1970 Sergeant Hennie Grobler and Argo
• 8 May 1980 Sergeant Vincent Zimmerman and Prince
• 11 November 1982 Warrant Officer Jan Louis Van Rooyen and Dillinger
• 17 April 1986 Sergeant CJ Van Niekerk and Brutus
• 18 January 1987 Sergeant Peter Knop (KIA) and Yaschin
• 20 December 1990 Constable Adrian Ash and Gus
• 14 March 1991 Warrant Officer CB French and Foxy

I served in the Durban Dog Unit from 1972 until 1979 with patrol dog Bruno. I rose in rank from Sergeant to Lieutenant during that time when I retired Bruno as he had been badly stabbed on two occasions over the years. Bruno was considered to be redundant government property so I bought him for five rand. He became my house dog until his death in 1982. His ashes were placed at Hero’s Rest at the Cato Manor SPCA. When the Cato Manor SPCA was closed the many urns with dogs ashes were stored in a room at a police station for many years. I arranged for Bruno’s ashes to be brought over to me and his ashes are on my mantelpiece in London. My adventures and those of my colleagues are captured in my book, Squad Cars; the Durban Dog Unit in the 1970s which is available on Takealot in South Africa and Amazon.

The many former dog handlers funded a memorial which was erected at the Kloof SPCA some two years ago and is worth a visit to see the memorial and the urns with the names of the dogs and their handlers.

Durban Dog Unit Memorial at Kloof SPCA

When men face danger together it brings out the best in them. They work as a team and back one another up. The camaraderie is like no other job or group. There are many cases not recorded where dog handlers went above and beyond the call of duty in exposing themselves to danger that the public never heard about. The survivors still bond together and are a special breed who kept Durban safe and are an important part of Durban’s history.