Activity of 6 Anti-poison Dog Units
Action C.2: Activity of Anti-poison Dog Units (ADUs)
Through this action, the State Forestry Corps will activate and manage 6 Anti-poison Dog Units, established through Action C.1. The dog units will work on a vast portion of the Italian territory, and especially along the whole central and southern Apennine range (11 regions: Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna, Umbria, Marche, Lazio, Molise, Abruzzo, Campania, Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria). LIFE PLUTO Project’s ADUs will carry out:

• Preventive inspections about twice a week, in the areas that are considered to be more at risk on the basis of the State Forestry Corps’ experience and knowledge, and of problematic factors (previous poisoning episodes, truffle grounds during truffle-hunting period, breeding farms in areas where wolves are present, etc.)
• Emergency checks upon reporting by staff of the State Forestry Corps itself or by other authorities (mayors, veterinary services at the local health authorities, other police corps, etc.). These checks will aim at removing possible further poison baits or carcasses, and at collecting material that may have come in contact with the poison and could thus be useful for the investigations.

The National Reference Centre for Forensic Veterinary Medicine at the Preventive Animal Healthcare Institute for Lazio and Tuscany Regions will collaborate with the State Forestry Corps, by providing the necessary toxic substances to train the dogs, and during the analysis and investigation stages concerning relevant poisoning cases.
In order to handle the 6 dog units, dedicated kennels will be built; six vehicles, dog equipments, tools and materials for searches and investigations will be bought.
To facilitate reporting of poisoning cases and to expedite the ADUs intervention, the environmental emergency telephone number (1515) of the State Forestry Corps will be the reference point to activate the intervention. The Forestry Corps itself or other authorities, such as police, veterinary services at the local health authorities, mayors, as well as veterinarians and common citizens will have the possibility to alert the service.
The role of the 1515 emergency number will be promoted among the local population through advertising material and other initiatives, as listed in Actions E.1 and E.2.
If an ADU intervention is deemed necessary, the unit will reach the location of the poisoning within 24-48 hours from the call, to start detection and removal of poison material together with staff of the local State Forestry Corps department.
The 6 Forestry Corps new ADUs will start working as of 1st January 2016, and they will act jointly with other dog units, established in the framework of other LIFE projects:
with the two Anti-poison Dog Units established by the Gran Sasso-Laga Park and the State Forestry Corps in the framework of the LIFE ANTIDOTO Project (www.lifeantidoto.it), which are currently funded by the Ministry of Environment in the framework of PATOM, a plan for the protection of Marsican brown bears. These two units mainly work in Abruzzo and surrounding areas.
with two Anti-poison Dog Units that will be established by the State Forestry Corps in Tuscany in the framework of the LIFE Medwolf and MIRCOlupo Projects.

Click here for updates on the activity of the Anti-poison Dog Units.