The dog and handler team:
Amazingly Versatile! In America, dogs have been used for years by local, state and federal law enforcement
agencies and the military to detect bombs and drugs, among other things. In fact a 1991 Congressional report noted
that: "...the dog and handler team remains the most widely used, accurate, durable and flexible system available for
detecting illegal drugs and explosives (Technology Against Terrorism)"
On September 11, 2001 dogs were among the first to be called to duty to search for survivors. Since then, the use of
dogs to search our airports and seaports for explosives has grown exponentially and dogs continue to play a critical
role in protecting the United States from terrorism and other threats.
Arson detection dogs must alert to more than 30 different types of accelerants and must be able to do so after an
arsonist has poured gasoline in a building, the building has burned to the ground, the firefighters have put thousands
of gallons of water on the fire and all of the burned items are masking the odor of the trace amounts of accelerant left.
The dogs must then sniff through the ashes and accurately pinpoint the remaining parts per trillion of gasoline left.
Similarly, drug dealers routinely try to hide their drugs by masking the odor with items such as coffee or fabric
softener, but still the dogs find it! By way of contrast, mold is not hiding from us, however, mold is frequently not
visible to the human eye.