Hounding the Terrorists

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) plans to add 45 trained canines next year, primarily to subway and rail systems and also to the few large airports that still don't have them. William Morange, security director for New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said bomb-sniffing dogs "are probably the best technology out there."

The TSA wants to make canine teams so prevalent in transit hubs that suicide bombers would believe they'd be caught before they could strike. "They have phenomenal deterrent value," said Earl Morris, deputy chief of TSA's office of security operations. The TSA uses German shepherds, Belgian Malinois and Vizslas, and trains them at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. Some dogs are bred there, though most are bought from European breeders. The cost of housing a dog for a year and training it and a handler for 10 weeks is $25,000.The TSA gives the dogs to airport and transit police, paying $40,000 to $50,000 a year for expenses and part of the handler's salary. Dogs work for 10 to 12 years.

In airports, dogs sniff cargo, luggage, passengers and planes. In rail stations, they focus on passengers and their bags. However the early Australian experience is that even well-trained dogs can decide to cock a leg over a passenger's bag and create a very disgruntled traveler. We're not really sure if there's a protocol for reimbursement if passengers are present and notice that their luggage has been anointed. Unlike dogs trained for combat, most of the animals are just sniffers. They can't be expected to pursue a fleeing suspect or bulldog a perp to the ground.