There have been two high profile man-hunts in the news in the past few years. One was the hunt for the Boston Bomber. Recall that he was wounded in a gun fight but escaped in an SUV. He got out, ran away, and hide in a boat. One might think that a good tracking dog could have followed the scent and found him. After all, he was bleeding. But no. It was the boat owner who found him.
Of all the photos of police officers with dogs at that scene, none showed a Bloodhound.
Fast forward to last week when law enforcement officers were canvasing, grid searching, and tracking David Sweat and Matt David. Again, no Bloodhounds in sight. In fact, David Sweat is supposed to have said he was "hiding in a hunting tree stand when an officer walked past him."
A Bloodhound wouldn't have walked past him.
Law enforcement these days like Belgian Malinois for their canine squads. Malinois are smart dogs, and according to dogs.petbreeds.com, they can track. But judging from those two high profile cases, they aren't that good at it.
Malinois are very aggressive, and as an animal control expert told an audience recently, "they can tear your arm off." Anyone who has seen a police dog demonstration probably watched a guy covered in protective clothing take off running, and when the dog is released, he grabs the guy and won't let go. They put on a good show. But when it comes down to actually finding the suspect, it's up to the humans.
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