Special report: 2008 Olympic Games

    SHENYANG, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Passengers boarding trains to Beijing are being greeted these days by three sniffer dogs searching for explosives at the railway in this Olympic Games soccer co-host city.

    Jia Li, an English Springer Spaniel, and her Labrador Retriever partners Duo Duo and Seven, comprise a canine brigade under Shenyang's railway police department.

    After training for three months here, the youthful trio -- all under the age of three -- began to patrol the waiting rooms, platforms and six high-speed trains that head for the capital every day.

    If they detect dangerous articles such as bullets, detonators, TNT or sulphur, they immediately alert officers by sitting down or pawing at the suspicious bags.

    "They have learned never to bark or move the bags, which could trigger a bomb," canine officer Ma Anhui explained.

    Usually, the canine detectors can sniff out something suspicious in no more than a minute, according to Ma.

    The dogs have become quite popular among passengers, who always want to pet the smart guards or take a picture with them.

    Another 160 sniffer dogs from local public security bureaus will work alongside their 44 Beijing counterparts at key facilities including event venues, logistics centers, airports and VIP residences before and during the Olympics and Paralympics until September.

    The capital city has been using sniffer dogs to detect drugs in public places, such as the airport, subway and railway stations and shopping malls, since June 2007.