America is scrambling to secure promising canines for ports and law enforcement agencies in the face of a global shortage of sniffer dogs.
The growing terrorist threat in western nations has pushed up demand for dogs that can detect explosives and are comfortable working at government buildings, tourist spots or big airports.
US government agencies that source sniffer dogs from Europe have found themselves competing with each other and against Middle Eastern buyers for a dwindling supply of suitable animals.
Prices for promising dogs can exceed $25,000, and 500 a year are required to maintain the American workforce. “We have all these agencies fighting for the same dogs,” said Scott Thomas, who worked for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) before resigning last month. “If the Saudis want a dog, they don’t have a problem doubling the price. That leaves the American procurement system behind.”
The US once found all the dogs it needed within its own borders, but in the last 50 years it has become dependent on foreign breeders. In France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands breeding police dogs is a competitive pursuit. Millions of labrador retrievers are bred as pets in America but only a tiny percentage have the wherewithal and temperament to be sniffers.
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The job is tougher now, too. “When I started our dogs were screening objects, bags, boxes,” Mr Thomas said. “Now they are screening people. You need a dog that is social, but not overly social.”
Mr Thomas once oversaw the TSA’s in-house breeding programme, which was closed for budgetary reasons in 2014. He is seeking funding to establish a private programme in Florida.