DogsSniff Don’t Scan
TSA full-body scans, U.S. military, explosives, and unemployed dogs. The connection:
The U.S. military has spent $19 billion on advanced methods to detect explosive devices to discover that the most effective technology has been with us for thousands of years—the canine nose. It turns out, a dog and human handler are 60% more effective in finding explosives than the latest and greatest technology, according to Lieutenant General Michael Oates, the commander of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO).
Two to three million dogs enter shelters each year and 60% are euthanized; ergo, at least 1.8 million highly efficient and cost effective explosive detectors (and wonderful dogs) are destroyed each year.
Given the recent uproar over full-body scans (overblown with media hype as it were), the concerns expressed do point to the fact that very expensive radiation-emitting scanners are not wildly popular, nor is the intrusive pat-down alternative. In contrast, a K9 detection team can do a walk-by sniff and you’re on your way.
I for one enjoy seeing the Beagle Brigade run by U.S. Customs and the Department of Agriculture to search out contraband fruits, vegetables and drugs. At train stations in NY and DC, dogs routinely patrol for explosives while passengers mill about. It is one of the joys of train travel: you don’t have to pass through security, unpack, disrobe and be subject to a scan.
We should have more dogs employed, less destroyed. In the process, high-quality human jobs (dog trainers, handlers, caregivers) would be generated, less outrageously expensive technology would be required, and we could take one giant step forward to better security, less intrusive screening, and more employment—for dogs and people.
A win-win, I would say.