A dog’s nose is at least 10,000 times more sensitive to smell than ours. This, partnered with a strong desire to hunt, is why sniffer dog teams are now such a crucial part of any high-security operation.

If you’re looking for a cost-effective way to maximise your security operation, we’ve laid out the 8 areas where dog detection teams are most useful and why.

Airport terminals and aircrafts

In 1974, an NYPD-owned German Shepherd successfully sniffed out a bomb that had been stowed inside an aircraft at New York’s John F Kennedy Airport. Unsurprisingly, the number of dogs used at airport security lanes skyrocketed as a result and, today, they’ve become an integral part of aviation security.

Sniffer dogs are most commonly used at security checkpoints to check hand luggage and passengers, but they can also be used to sniff aircrafts (including cargo hatches) where suspicious packages have been reported. This adds a certain flexibility and capability which cannot be achieved with fixed screening machines alone.

Airport warehouses and cargo hubs

The use of sniffer dogs at airports extends beyond just the terminal and the runway.

An increase in cargo due to Brexit and COVID-19 means that many high-value items are being stored in airport warehouses throughout the UK and beyond. Whilst many warehouses rely on X-ray machines to scan their growing cargo, this presents many problems –

  • The long and narrow shape of airport warehouses aren’t well suited for X-ray machines
  • Screening systems are sometimes unable to fit oversized pallets or curved containers
  • Certain cargo types cannot be easily recognised by scanning technology

Using canine detection teams to help screen your cargo once again provides a more versatile and cost-effective solution to static and bulky imagining machines, which is why their use has been gaining momentum in recent years.

Ports and cruise ships

Seaports and ferry terminals are critical to the UK economy, with 486.1 million tonnes of cargo and 62.7 million passengers passing through our ports in 2019 alone. It’s essential, therefore, that seaports are given the same level of high-security protection as airports.

Like airport terminals and warehouses, sniffer dog teams are highly valuable at ports as they help add a more advanced level of security to your operations. Not only can they detect illegal substances such as drugs and explosives on passengers, but they can also check many types of cargo quickly, from pallets and ULDs, to lose or bagged cargo.

Events and other hospitality venues

While sniffer dog teams are most commonly employed at transport hubs and terminals, many other settings and industries benefit massively from these highly mobile security teams.

Sniffer dogs can be flexibly used to check anything from specific items to vast areas. This makes them ideal for use at events, such as festivals, concerts, and exhibitions, and other high-security hospitality venues.

When working at large scale events such as festivals, where drug use is commonplace, detection dogs and their handlers can work the venue’s perimeter and prevent anyone from entering that is concealing a banned substance.

Choosing a Sniffer Dog Team

Regardless of your setting or industry, dog detection teams should form an integral part of your high-security operation.

Here at Concorde Airport Security, our dog teams undergo monthly training on the new methods used by criminal and terrorist organisations. Our on-location exercises allow us to simulate real-life scenarios and searches, meaning the team will be fully prepared to protect from the dangers of explosives or narcotics.

To find out more, click here.