It’s pretty normal for dogs to sniff around. It’s a completely different case, though, if they’re on the hunt for drugs.
According to www.narcononnewliferetreat.org., dogs were adopted into drug control around the 1940s. They were used for detecting German mines in the North African theater during World War II.
Dogs have been used in detection for almost a century because of their great sense of smell.
Studies reveal that a dog’s sense of smell is about 10,000 to 100,000 more acute than that of a human due to their large number of olfactory receptors. For every scent receptor a human has, a dog has 50.
A DOG’S sense of smell is a lot more powerful than a human’s.
The part of the dog’s brain devoted to analyzing smell is 40 times more efficient than ours. It helps, too, that they have neophilia, an adaptive trait that enables them to be attracted to new and interesting odors.
While the country continues to apply technology to combat the smuggling of illegal drugs, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said in a previous statement that it still values the role of detection dogs and its handlers.
DOG sniffers are common at airports.
“The portability, adaptability, and effectiveness of K9 teams ensure its relevance,” it added.
In the Philippines, K9 teams are used in “anti-drug operations such as non-intrusive inspection for border security, sweeping searches on baggage, cargo and parcels, event monitoring, and in search and seizure operations in jails and custodial facilities.”
Dogtime.com lists the 15 best K9 drug detection dog breeds: 1. German Shepherd, 2. Belgian Malinois, 3. Bloodhound, 4. English Springer Spaniel, 5. Boxers, 6. Labrador Retriever, 7. Doberman Pinscher, 8. Giant Schnauzer, 9. American Pit Bull Terrier, 10. Beagle, 11. Cane Corso, 12. Dutch Shepherd, 13. German Shorthaired Terrier, 14. Rottweiler, and 15. Hungarian Pointers.
Aside from drug detection, dogs are now used in detecting Covid-19.
NBC News reported last June that among 335 people, dogs were able to identify positive cases at 97 percent accuracy. Yet, they were able to give some false positives, too. The said research was led by Dominique Grandjean at the Alfort School of Veterinary Medicine in suburban Paris. This further proves how powerful a dog’s nose can be.