SAN DIEGO — The next time you go flying, you may see some furry TSA workers. The agency now has explosive detection dogs. TSA gave a demonstration and said they have 400 of the dogs trained for this kid of work at airports across the country.
TSA is projecting to screen more than 4.1 million travelers this summer. That number is up seven percent over last year.
During the demonstration, the dogs showed off their keen sense of smell. The dog walks back and forth and when he smells the explosive components he then follows the decoy. The dog then gets a reward and the offending person is pulled out of the line and evaluated further.
Joe Brown from TSA says, “The level of ability of the dogs, it can’t be matched with the technology I have seen. The dogs are a part of the entire screening process. It is not just one piece, it is a level of many different steps that we take to ensure passenger safety.”
TSA says they use sociable dogs because they are around people all day and they know not everyone is a dog lover. The K-9’s will have signage on them that tells the public to not pet them and that they are performing a specific job.