Home Guard dog handler Johan Lindmark is currently the only one within the defense in Kiruna to have a service dog.
Together with Ilona, the crew goes out on quick missions both within the Armed Forces, but they also help the police if something happens in the municipality.
– She is a patrol dog that can look for people in different types of terrain. So it’s an important resource to have up here, says Johan Lindmark.
20,000 square kilometer area
Kiruna municipality is the country’s largest municipality in surface area at 20,000 square kilometers. The municipality is also located in an area vulnerable to security policy.
Right now, more dogs are being trained to eventually become service dogs, but there are still too few, according to Anders Lindberg, information officer at Lapland’s hunting battalion.
– We are working hard both to get more service dogs and people in the Home Guard up here. It is an important step now when the defense is to be equipped, he says.