Mindhunter Inspired Dog Names

You've probably heard a lot about search and rescue dogs or pups that help those who are disabled, but this pooch is a poacher hunter. Killer, the Belgian Malinois tracking dog spends his days saving the lives of the rhinos in Africa. The name certainly does not fit the dog in this case because rather than being a killer, he is stopping others from killing. 

The five-year-old pooch and his handler, Amos Mzimba, have nabbed over one hundred poachers in the past several years. The two have been working in South Africa’s Kruger National Park together since 2012 as part of the canine training unit from the Southern African Wildlife College in Acornhoek. 

More than 6,000 African rhinos have been killed by poachers since 2008, and the number is increasing every year. The rising demand for the rhino horn in Asia costs thousands of rhinos their lives every year due to the ancient myth that the horn is a miracle drug. Its value, which is an amazing $65,000 per kilogram, makes it worth more than gold! 

The number of poached rhinos rose from 13 in 2007 to 1,215 in 2014. And these poachers are not just stealing the rhino’s horns. They are cutting them off with chainsaws while the rhino is alive but drugged and then they just leave them to bleed to death. But now whenever anyone finds a dead rhino in the Kruger National Park, Amos and Killer are flown to the spot where Killer is famous for his positively amazing tracking skills. 

On one of Killer’s outings, he and Amos were following some alleged poachers who were seen in the Bangu area by Mozambique in the Kruger National Park. With the South African Defense Force by their side they were not feeling too threatened, but suddenly, shots were fired on them. In the confusion, Amos and Killer were separated from the group. However, they did not hide and wait for the others. They followed the suspects and arrested them. 

In fact, this special pooch caught 115 poachers from 2012 to 2014 and his work is not going unnoticed. Killer was awarded the PDSA (People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals) Gold Medal in 2016 for helping to save the African rhino from extinction. The popular British comedian Ricky Gervais was there to announce Killer as the winner and gave him the award. His sense of smell is perfect, and his bravery is pretty awesome too.