Watch Out For Spidey, Ne'er-Do-Wells...

by ANN Correspondent Maxine Scheer

Watch out you high-rolling Tri-Pacer owners, a curious black Labrador may be sniffing around your aircraft for piles of cash the next time you fly into Tamiami Airport from Nassau, Bahamas.

Yes, it's true. A dog's keen sense of smell can detect cash, bombs, food, narcotics, and other prohibited items. These are some of the specialties that dog in the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Canine Enforcement Unit are trained for as an integral part of the Agency's agricultural protection, counter-terrorism and narcotics interdiction strategies.

Attendees at AirVenture 2007 in Oshkosh are being treated to daily demonstrations at the Federal Pavilion by talented canines, and their human partners of course, on the Canine Enforcement Program (CEP).

Aero News attended one of the demonstrations this morning and met Spidey the Beagle, part of the USDA's Beagle Brigade (with Sara West, CBP agent, below) and Indy, a narcotics sniffing Dutch Sheppard (with Tad Dennis, CBP Agent, shown at bottom). Both Spidey and Dutch enthusiastically demonstrated their superior olfactory nerves, i.e. good sniffers. Attendees at the demonstration were told that dogs smell over 44 times better than humans and with the right temperament and a few months of proper training, can identify specific scents that can go to the level of differentiating actual quantities of cash or the individual ingredients in a pepperoni pizza.

Spidey is a member of the Beagle Brigade, an elite group of nonaggressive detector dogs and their human partners, founded in 1984, and first used at Los Angeles International Airport. There are approximately 130 Beagle teams which are used primarily on the commercial aviation side and stationed at over 60 U.S. Airports.

The beagles work between six and eight flights per day, and sniff travelers' luggage for prohibited fruits, plants and meat that could harbor harmful plant and animal pests and diseases. Beagles are very calm, well tempered animals and are particularly motivated by food. They are rewarded with special treats when they identify luggage containing a prohibited item.

The larger component of the canine teams is assigned to narcotics and border protection. With over 1,200 canine teams deployed in the field, CBP has the largest number of working dog teams of any federal law enforcement agency. According to CBP's website, in 2004, CBP Canine teams discovered 1.8 million pounds of narcotics and assisted in the seizure of approximately 33 million dollars. The canine units do this with great efficiency. What takes one dog 20 minutes to inspect, in a warehouse for example, might take eight inspectors an entire day or more. Using Canines for the detection of bombs and explosives began approximately two years ago.

The dogs used for detecting narcotics and other prohibited items are trained to respond much differently than the beagles. These dogs are rewarded with play and in appropriate cases, destruction. While the beagles are taught to sit quietly and gently touch someone's luggage, the narcotics dogs, like Indy, are trained to respond swiftly and rewarded for barking and scratching when they detect what they are trained to find. While aggression is not tolerated, these dogs are showered with praise and are allowed to chew on items provided by the handler.

According to CBP, canine units are occasionally called to inspect GA aircraft, luggage and cargo. Most of the time, GA inspections are handled by humans. Flights coming from countries that do not have a land link to the US are of primary concern. This includes flights from the Caribbean. In cases where agents believe a situation is high risk, using the canine units to inspect GA saves time and in some cases, might save an aircraft from having to be taken apart.

Different breeds are chosen for these dogs and include German Sheppards, Labradors and pit bulls. Dogs are typically located through one of three means -- through vendors, from shelters or through a CBP breeding program. One in every 500 dogs matches the temperaments CBP is looking for. Once dogs are accepted into the program, they are sent for approximately two months of training with their human partner and 80% are estimated to make it through the program.

The dogs usually start training at one year of age and mandatory retirement is at age nine. All the dogs, whether they are rescued from a shelter, donated by their owners, or are part of the breeding program, find a good home at the end of their career. No dog is ever sent to an animal shelter. CBP employees adopt many of the dogs that don't make it though training, and handlers usually take their retiring canine partner home with them. If there are opportunities for adopting one of these dogs, anyone interested would need to contact the Canine Enforcement Training Center in Front Royal, VA.

FMI: www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/border_security/canines