Dogs in the United States are now being trained to find
electronic components with their noses. Bear, an electronics-sniffing black
lab, helped officers locate 16 smartphones, 10 flash drives and six laptops
during a search of Fogle’s home. How are dogs able to find what to the rest of
us has no smell whatsoever?
Rescue dog Bear
Jack Hubball, a chemist who discovers the chemical
compounds that dogs are eventually trained to find. He identified the so-called accelerants (gasoline, diesel, kerosene, etc.) dogs should focus on to sniff
out arson, and helped train dogs to find narcotics and bombs.
To fight computer crimes, Hubball tested circuit boards,
flash drives and other electronics components to isolate a single common
chemical in each device, which police are keeping under wraps. After isolating
the chemical, it was a matter of homing dogs’ sniffers onto the telltale
compound.
After months of training, the dogs were able to detect the
odor of the chemical in people’s hands, concrete blocks, metal boxes and
clothing. The dogs also had to ignore distracting smells such as food and
coffee.
The dogs have since been involved in numerous child
pornography warrants, as well as other investigations where electronic
documents were key evidence. After helping with the Fogle investigation, Bear’s
trainer says he’s received some 30 inquiries from police who want to buy their
own electronics-sniffing dog.
Bear's trainer Todd talks about their work
Super Sniffers
Apart from electronics, dogs are putting their noses to
work in a multitude of disciplines – from fighting crime to diagnosing
diseases. In one of the largest studies of its kind, dogs detected
the presence of prostate cancer with 98% accuracy in the urine of 600
test patients. Dogs can also detect lung cancer simply by sniffing
patients’ breath. Dogs have been used to sniff out bed bugs, explosives, dead bodies, contamination
in water and more.
In other words, if something smells fishy, it may be time
to call on man’s best friend to lend a helping hand - or snout.
No comments:
Post a comment