There is no doubt that a canine’s sense of smell is far greater than that of humans. A brief look at history would reveal that dogs were already being employed to track down various animals or objects since time immemorial.
There were those that made use of dogs whenever they go hunting. Some employ the services of sniffing dogs to track down certain people, like criminals. Others get dogs to pick up the scent of people who are trapped in rubble after an earthquake.
K-9 sniffer dogs
These days, most, if not all, police agencies have employed the services of sniffer dogs. These dogs are trained to track down various objects, depending on where they will be deployed. For the police dogs or K-9s that work with bomb squads, the dogs are trained to sniff out bombs.
For those that are trained to be assigned to a partner policeman, the K-9s are usually assigned to sniff out weapons and/or illegal drugs. For K-9s stationed at airports, they are trained to sniff out all three of the aforementioned objects.
There are also times when dogs are assigned to work at fire departments, so they can track down humans who are in need of rescuing. Just by picking up the scent of whatever it is they are tasked to find, these dogs are able to quickly locate whatever it is they are searching for.
Saving lives by sniffing
In a recent attempt to prevent the spread of COVID-19, a German veterinary clinic has once again employed the services of sniffer dogs. The people over at this clinic trained these dogs to detect the deadline COVID-19 virus in saliva samples of humans.
This study revealed a 94% accuracy rate, which means that it is only a matter of time before dogs once again help save the lives of thousands, if not millions, of humans. By detecting which among the humans in a group have COVID-19, the sniffer dogs can help prevent the virus from spreading.
Credits to Inquirer
