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Let us take a minute to admire the
snout. The snout is the anterior prolongation of the head on
various animals. On a dog, it serves many purposes, such as:
- housing the olfactory sensory organ;
- creating an aerodynamic profile of
the head, allowing for increased velocity;
- aiding the scent-gathering process
in confined spaces, such as burrows;
- embarrassing you at dinner parties
(it tends to act as an indiscreet magnet for your guests' private
parts).
Closer to home, let's find out how the
snout made headlines last week...
1. The Lab with a
Nose for Dope
CASTRO VALLEY, CA (USA) — The suspect,
Robert B. Garris, 29, was so confident of his drug stash's untraceable
hiding-place that he even assisted the Alameda County Narcotics Task
Force in the search of his home.
Perhaps he was even relieved when he
heard that a rookie was to be leading the investigation. No such
luck; that rookie was none other than "Bernie" the Labrador
Retriever who made his debut by nosing through every square inch of the
house and hitting on a 1"-thick, locked steel safe, inside of which
was tucked away a quarter-pound of methamphetamine, complete with a scale and packaging
materials.
The Daily
Review reports that Garris, who is being held in lieu of $80,000
bail, has pleaded not guilty and will appear on September 14 in Alameda
County Superior Court for a pre-trial hearing.
Bennie had been transferred just last
week from the Hayward Police, where he'd had two prior drug busts to his
credit. This was Alameda County's first success with the year-old,
$6,700 pooch.
"It was a great debut for
us," Said Lt. Lloyd Myers, accepting praise on behalf of Bernie's snout.
2. Dog Wanders by
Crime Scene,
Sniffs Out $42,000 Contraband
ARLINGTON, WASHINGTON, USA — "Dutch" the Chocolate Labrador was just on his way to
work when he figured he'd lend a helping paw to officers investigating a
minor traffic violation. The Daily
Herald reports that the specialized police dog ended up alerting
officers to more than 10 pounds of marijuana and $14,000 in cash in the
trunk of a car.
At about 10:30am yesterday, Sergeant
Dan Boardley of the Everett Police was, himself, on his way to work on
I-5 when he spotted a vehicle making an unsafe lane change. He
pulled the car over just past the southbound Smokey Point exit.
Sgt. Boardley and an Anti-Crime Team
Supervisor ran a cursory investigation on the vehicle's license plate
and learned that the driver from Arlington (whose name has not yet been
released) was driving with a suspended license and falsified insurance
documents.
About this time, Dutch the dog and his
partner Officer Daryl Eby drove by and decided to offer their
assistance. The police pooch almost immediately hit on something
in the trunk of the 1990 Honda.
"Dutch gave us probable cause for
the search warrant," explains Officer Edy, who went on to enumerate
the items discovered in the trunk: $14,000 (USD) cash and more than 10
pounds of marijuana in 17 plastic bags, which they suspect is potent
"B.C. bud" from British Columbia, with an estimated street
value of nearly $30,000.
Since Dutch joined the force in 1998 at
the age of five, he has sniffed out more than 300 criminal suspects and
led to the confiscation of over $4 million of illegal substances.
For his outstanding performance (while
off-duty, yet), Dutch was rewarded with a few minutes to play with his
chew-toy.
(Chew toy? Sheesh, what does it take to get
a full-out game of fetch around here? Dig up Jimmy Hoffa?) |
3. Who Knows What
Evil Lurks in the Hearts of Men? The Dognose Knows
SAN JOSE, CA (USA) — Here's an
interesting one for the "you can run, but you can't hide"
files:
This weekend, KPIX
Channel 5 reported that a motorist struck and killed
an 80-year-old woman pedestrian at the corner of 6th and Taylor.
The driver then abandoned the car several blocks away and fled the scene on
foot.
With no witnesses to go on, San Jose
police decided to bring in the K-9 and the "Scent Transfer
Unit".
("K9 and the Scent Transfer
Unit" ... Hey, isn't that the name of that 70's funk band who did That's
the Way I Like It?)
The Scent Transfer Unit, a
specially-designed vacuum cleaner-like tool, was used to extract the
fugitive's odor from the car without disturbing any of the evidence.
The Police K-9 dog, "Trento",
is one of several talented dogs used by the San Jose PD. He's a
2-year-old Bloodhound who tracks suspects and finds missing persons, and
although he's still in training, the police decided to give him a try.
Officers presented Trento with a small
patch of fabric peppered with the suspect's scent. Within moments,
the dog locked onto the trail. Now here comes the amazing part...
Showing off the super-sniffing senses of the Bloodhound snout, McKinley poses for the camera. McKinley and others may be adopted from Northwest
Bloodhound Rescue.
With his supercharged sniffer pressed
to the ground, Trento pulled his handler o'er hill, o'er dale for almost
a mile to an apartment complex, to the front door of 20-year-old Jesse
Jimenez. Jimenez was not there when police arrived, but realizing
that the jig was up, he soon turned himself in to the authorities.
Sergeant Chuck Wall commended Trento
for his excellent performance, indicating also that Bloodhounds make
fine police dogs due to their excellent tracking abilities and
instinctive friendliness; this makes them ideal for locating missing
children as well as crafty criminals.
"He did a heck of a job,"
says Sgt. Wall. "He earned his kibbles and bits."
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Headlines
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