Knox
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 17, 2009
- Messages
- 31,244
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At one point, I was highly interested in participating in SAR, and went as far as to go to an orientation meeting where training and expectations would be discussed. What was made clear at that meeting is that what SAR dogs are useful for is not what they communicate, but what they FIND. So, if a dog appears to locate a scent that goes nowhere, or if a dog appears to not locate a scent you believe should be there, it is not to be taken into account. Certainly not legally. They are there to find things, not to be believed if they find or don't find a trail. Interesting. I just think the public thinks they are infallible, and if they find or don't appear to find a trail, they're indicating the truth of what happened.
I can't remember one single case in the last decade - not one single one here on Websleuths either - where search dogs were brought in to find missing people and they actually located them. Humans smelled Jessica Lunsford's remains by smell that the dogs didn't alert on.
Carrie McGonigle's dog Amber found Michelle Le.