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HUNDREDS of military personnel will be forced on to Civvy Street and dozens of trained dogs will be put down when the Garrison leaves Hongkong.

  Security services show little interest in employing the men or making use of the dogs which have been an integral part of the British Forces presence in Hongkong.

  Retraining is being offered to the 1,000 members of the Hongkong Military Service Corps (HKMSC) but for the 40 or so dogs trained to attack and restrain illegal immigrants there will be no opportunity for re-employment.

  Some of the spaniel sniffer dogs may be adopted by families as pets but the German shepherd attack dogs will have to be put to sleep.

  ''They are just not suitable as pets - they are trained to attack and they cannot adapt,'' a Garrison spokesman said.

  Dogs imported from Britain, but trained in Hongkong, have been used in the Defence Animal Support Unit of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps for tracking, searching for explosives, riot control and guard duty.

  They were also used to patrol the border until the police force took over responsibility for such duties.

  The police has its own dogs and will not be targeting dogs or personnel when redundancies hit the HKMSC, whose staff include military policemen, drivers, signallers and marine mechanics.

  ''Would you employ gardeners as journalists? There is no relevance, we are a completely different profession,'' said police spokesman Chief Superintendent Eric Lockeyear.

  ''They can apply to join the force and if they are eligible and suitable they will be considered.

  ''They would have to go through all the usual training. Of course, if someone proves particularly good, they would be given accelerated training but that may not necessarily happen with the military.

  ''We will not be mounting any special recruitment drive.''   Officially the Garrison and the police are content to work with each other, but unofficially antagonism between the two security forces is growing.

  One senior army officer scoffed at the police attitude to ex-military personnel, saying Garrison staff would not want to join the force.

  ''Would you put your trust in an organisation whose morale depends on whether or not their boss has got a special number plate?'' he said, referring to Commissioner of Police Li Kwan-ha's fight to keep his licence plate, designated ''1''.

  The Correctional Services Department also has no plans to launch a recruitment drive aimed at former military personnel.

  ''We have regular recruitment exercises during the year, but we see no reason to specially select military people,'' a spokesman said.

  The Garrison is offering re-training to HKMSC personnel but most are expected to enter civilian life immediately.

  In addition to those with military tasks, cooks, clerks, store keepers and medical orderlies will also be on the lookout for jobs.

  So far those leaving the HKMSC have all found civilian work.



Dogs a casualty of peace