Case Study: Animals & Counter Terrorism / Terrorism

09 Feb 2011

Counter Terrorism: Guard dogs have long been used to secure sensitive sites from crime and terrorism.  But now explosives and firearms detection dogs are playing an important frontline role in CT.  They are often deployed shortly ahead of high-profile events, deemed to be terrorist targets, to literally sniff out threats using their well-developed olfactory senses.  They are also deployed when required at airports to detect explosives and weapons in luggage.  The US Transport and Security Administration (TSA) deploys around 600 canines to spot check cargo and mail before it is loaded onto commercial passenger-carrying aircraft.  Traditionally ‘operated’ by the military, police and customs authorities, and often referred to as K-9 units (after the robotic canine in Doctor Who), pressure on public resources in recent years, with the increased global terrorism threat, has led to the growth of private-sector canine security services internationally.  Spaniels, Labradors, Malinois and German Shepherds are breeds commonly used for this work.  A dog’s temperament is important; it must be outgoing and playful with a good hunting instinct.   

Narcotics detection dogs at air and maritime ports also play an important role in countering terrorism.  The trafficking of narcotics is an activity certain terrorist groups are engaged in to fund their activities.

Highly controversially, military working dogs have also been used to intimidate terrorist and insurgent suspects by US forces in Iraq and in Guantanamo Bay.  Following the revelation in the press in 2003 of such uses, then US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld banned such practices.

It is not just dogs that can be used for CT work. British company Inscentinel is developing handheld detectors which use live honeybees to sniff out vapours including those of explosives.  The company says that each bee only takes a few minutes to train.

In 2003, it was reported in the press that Geva Zion, a 26-year-old former Israeli army dog handler, had started to train wild boars to detect explosives in Israel and the Palestinian territories, but given the cultural taboo surrounding pigs in both Judaism and Islam, it is not clear how much of an obstacle this will be in the development of this initiative.

There have been studies into the feasibility of using rats to sniff out explosives, for example at airports.  Rats have some advantages over canines in that they can get into much small spaces and do not rely on working with specific handlers as they do not form relationships with humans.  The APOPO Project trains African Giant Pouched Rats to detect TNT in landmines, with its HeroRat initiative. However, at present rats are not widely used in CT work. MORE ONLINE

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