K9 "Justice"
is a Narcotic detector dog, which simply means that he is used to help
in searches for the odor of narcotics. Simply
put, the dog has better olfactory senses, which are in the nose and used
in the detection of odors. For example, when you smell
perfume or cologne you only smell one fragrance, the dog on the other hand
smells the water, and the different fragrances that
combine to make the one smell. The dogs nose knows! When you see another
dog sniffing a light pole or a fire hydrant it is not only
sniffing it to get the other dogs scent it is acquiring many, many facts,
such as what breed the dog is, when it was last there, if
it was a male or female,
and if the pole is a regular stopping place of the dog. So simply put,
there noses are extraordinary! Why we
use them in law enforcement is simply for the fact that the drug dealers
have a lot to lose in today war on drugs. They are getting
crafty in hiding the illegal contraband. With secret compartments in vehicles
or in ceiling tiles in their homes. This is where the
K-9 comes in handy. For example, say police officers were executing a search
warrant on a house and the resident of the house
was a drug dealer, he know where he has the stuff hidden, we don't! If
it was a big house it would take 5 officers a couple of
hours to search it thoroughly, and probably miss a lot of stuff, plus the
department would have to pay the officers while they were
working! With a dog it would cut the search time down dramatically and
you don't give a dog a paycheck, you give him food, water,
shelter and love. The one time expense of purchasing the dog, training
the officer that is going to handle him, and maintaining
the dog, ie, food, vet bills, etc. will not out weigh what you pay the
officers in a year to work on the drug problem. A good
K-9 team will really be beneficial to the department, and most of all the
community.