Letting sleeping dogs lie may be a good idea sometimes. But at Visva-Bharati, a delay in deciding the fate of three dogs has come as a wake-up call on security.

The two Labradors and a German Shepherd — a sniffer dog and two guard dogs — have been withdrawn from the Uttarayan complex as the contract with the supplier agency expired last month with no word on its extension. The complex has a museum and Rabindranath Tagore’s five houses.

The university has not renewed the contract and is said to be contemplating a fresh tender. But a section of security officials wondered why the administration did not process the fresh tender before the old contract was over.

The sniffer dog, a Labrador called Rocky, had been brought in January last year and the two other guard-dogs, Shadow and Jacky, had been around for four years.

Shadow is a Labrador and Jacky a German Shepherd.

“The dogs were brought to enhance security at the museum and the heritage buildings of Rabindranath. Now, no one is bothered that a part of the security is no longer there,” a senior official said.

Varsity sources said the dogs had been hired from a Calcutta agency, whose contract ended on December 31. “We waited for a month. On Tuesday, officials said they would not renew it. So, we are leaving with the dogs,” said Raja Paul, the owner of the agency.

Sources said there were allegations over hiring from a single agency and it was that a fresh tender may be more prudent.

“We are yet to take a decision on hiring dogs. But we are aware of the importance of security,” said Visva PRO Anirban Sircar.