07 January 2010

Explosive-sniffing dogs bomb out?

The latest security concern at airports: those bomb-sniffing dogs. Are they really effective? These incidents cast some doubt:
 

---Three of the Travel Security Administration's bomb-sniffing dogs at the Philadelphia International Airport flunked their decertification tests, putting travelers at risk according to a story by Channel 6 Action News in Philadelphia.
 

---At the Minneapolis International Airport, a dog sniffed a substance in a bag at the baggage claim area. The area had to be evacuated for a short time. That turned out to be a false alarm.
 

--- A passenger unwittingly carried explosive onto a flight after a security test involving a sniffer dog didn't find the explosives, reported a story in USA TODAY.
 

The TSA has about 700 dogs at airports, train stations and other travel hubs, according to wire services.
 

The dogs undergo ten weeks of training but then must be recertified. The Philadelphia dogs flunked the test twice. Each year the dogs must be recertified to detect dozens of explosive scents.
 

Dogs trained at Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio, Texas, patrol airport terminals, check unidentified packages and sniff baggage that raise alarms during X-ray screening.
 

The dogs are not currently used specifically to sniff out explosives on people. But they could be, according to a CNN story.
 

By David Wilkening
 

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• Not effective
  
  

  I flew back into SFO from Tokyo last week and while waiting for my luggage at the baggage carousel, my carry-on attracted one of the bomb sniffing dogs. TSA staff took all of my contents out of the bag and inspected them and it turned out my food (tofu dumpling) was the cause. Even trained dogs are not perfect when there is food around!

  By Tamami Naito, Tuesday, January 12, 2010