Bomb Sniffing Dogs vs TSA Who Is Going to Win?

Yellow Labs at Sniffer Dog Training

Whenever we travel we all know we need to leave the house with hours to spare in order to get through the lines at airport security. From taking off our shoes to pulling our laptops out of the bag and then waiting for our turn to go through the X-ray machine or full body scanner. The machines used to scan and check our bag and ourselves are expensive to buy and even more expensive to maintain. They may or may not be overly invasive depending on who you ask and what kind of mood they are in when you ask the question. Opponents to body scanners and the other machines say they aren’t doing the job well enough anyway. Actually they say that the TSA doesn’t do a good enough job not only with scanning people and luggage but in allowing unauthorized individuals into sensitive locations in the airport. The opponents say there is something out there much more effective in terms of keeping contraband out of airports and off of our flights and a lot less expensive. Their solution – Sniffer Dogs.

I think that dogs can and do have a much more effective find rate then machines which can be tricked by switching from metal to plastic liquid to a solid. Dogs can detect even the smallest amounts of bomb making materials or drugs or even specific food items. Sniffer Dogs do not take years of training and those who fail at bomb sniffing because they pounce on the item rather then point to the item are suited for drug or agriculture detection. Yes dogs require breaks but so do TSA agents you will not have to worry about a dog texting their boyfriend or trying to find a ride home while they are supposed to be screening passengers. Dog require specially handlers but I would think those who operate the fancy machines require some special training. It would just require a new breed of TSA Agents to carry out the new procedures. If this is the new form of Take Your Dog to work where do I sign up to begin training with Davinia and Indiana? Maybe they are not the dogs on the security line sniffing but they could be the final “random” screening at the Jetway as you get on the plane. Or they could guard a door only pilots or ground crew are supposed to go through. And there are two of them so they can have breaks. They would also be happy to fly on the plane if necessary to keep things under control they have their little Passports and their country specific microchips so they are ready to fly Internationally.

My only thought is that for the security line at certain airports like Miami the Beagle Brigade or Cavalier Crew might not be authoritative enough looking. They would need to end BSL here so they could bring in Pit bulls on the line. Or maybe the thing to do is go bigger with  Mastiffs or Newfoundlands only because people would take them more seriously due to their size. No matter which breed they choose or if they use multiple breeds at every airport to keep people guessing at what they are going to find when they arrive at the airport I am all for this security measure.

I think that the senators who are saying the only reason why sniffer dogs were used in the first place is because they have no lobbyists for their cause just need to reach out to the Pet Blogging Community to help them get the information out there. High priced Lobbyist problem solved.