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TSA: More dogs will be sniffing air cargo

As part of its effort to enhance the security of cargo being loaded onto passenger aircraft, the Transportation Security Administration is planning to increase the number of explosive-sniffing dogs deployed at U.S. airports and is making arrangements to kennel those dogs at the private homes of their respective handlers.

TSA is seeking a small business contractor that can drop-ship at least 85 aluminum kennels, and perhaps dozens more, across the country at the individual residences of the trained canine handlers.

Dogs have been used to detect dangerous explosives onboard aircraft ever since a pooch named Brandy found an explosive device on a Trans World Airlines jet bound from JFK International Airport in New York to Los Angeles in 1972, just 12 minutes before the weapon was set to detonate.

Dog handlers generally are trained at the TSA Explosives Detection Canine Handler Course which is co-located at the Defense Department’s Military Working Dog School at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX.

The 9/11 Commission and recently passed legislation have called for greater use of canine detection teams to enhance cargo security. In fact, TSA recently reported that 25 percent of the work day of its 460 canine teams is devoted to inspecting cargo. "By the end of FY08, TSA will add another 170 canine teams to the force whose primary focus will be cargo," stated an announcement on the TSA Web site.

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