L to R - Search and Rescue Dog Association of Alberta

The Publicity Hound
(The Most Dangerous Dog)
by John William Grima; 2009
Reprinted with the author's permission.
We have all read the news articles
regarding Search and Rescue and other
Detection Dog handlers, being charged
and convicted of Fraud and other crimes.
Let’s see now, oh yes, the Michigan
woman, for planting evidence. This
compromised several prominent
investigations, gave false hope to
numerous people and left egg on the
faces of many reporters and television
producers.
Then there was the World Trade Centre
hero, who defrauded FEMA while staying
in a New York luxury hotel. He set up a
trust fund for his poor tired old dog that
eventually succumbed to the hazards of
ground zero, when in fact the old dog
wasn’t even a trained search dog.
Finally the president of a national
detector dog organization for fraud. He
put military lives in danger by selling
untrained explosive detection dogs to
the government for thousands of dollars.
When these dogs were finally tested
by experts, “they couldn’t find elephant
droppings in a bird cage!”
These people are the ones that have
been caught and convicted so far.
These cases have given a black
eye to the professional and unpaid
professionals, who have legitimate wellrun,
standardized programs.
However they can be a blessing in
disguise if we all learn by them.
It is the uneducated and
assumption of expertise that these
fraud artists rely on. The authorities
Scent Dog News... 10
and the media are the main targets of
these individuals.
The purpose of this article, is to bring this
discussion to the forefront and to provide
some simple warning signs, so that with a
minimum amount of due diligence these
menaces will be exposed.
ONE PERSON SHOW -
This is a dead giveaway. All good Search
and Rescue teams are organized with a
structure similarly run like a professional
emergency service. They are mandated by
the authorities to be utilized as a resource
and consider themselves as “unpaid
professionals” not volunteer searchers.
They function as a team.
In all the above noted fraud cases, all their
publicity was geared to just the individual
and their wonder dogs.
To this day one can still find the articles
on the internet and watch the television
shows, profiling them and their dogs.
CERTIFICATION -
Remember this statement. “Certification
is only as good as the person or
agency that is certifying”.
Make sure the certification is authentic and
not self serving. I certify all my students,
based on my own qualifications and the
above statement applies to me also.
All good trainers and dog handlers will
welcome and achieve certifications with
many other agencies.
This is a testament to their training
and also allows them to work in multi
jurisdictions. For example; the dog team
that is certified by the State of Florida
cannot work in the state of New York under
their standard. However if both teams are
also certified by the United States Police
Canine Association or North American Police
Work Dog Association, they may be able to work
across the U.S.A or even Canada.