Sorry but this is crucial - It is a fact that the dogs smelt something - but we do not know 100% or anything close to what they smelt - they are dogs . Sure they have been trained but this is not an exact science - dogs pick up lots of scents and sure have had some success - but they have also had failures Judges in the States have thrown out anything to do with cadaver scents because it is unreliable - it is a pointer for the ploce to find proper evidence .
It is not a fact that the dogs even smelt death because dogs cant communicate they cant tell us .
Hi Gord,
Of course, I only know so much, not everything, but it really bothers me that it was reported that the dogs alerted to the things that they did, without any report of them alerting to something that would have had nothing to do with the McCanns. These dogs are very highly trained Gord, there are many websites that detail their training and explain how they rarely get confused about what they are alerting to. Communication is not only accomplished by speaking words. Eddie and Keela absolutely deserve the benefit of the doubt, they are the best in the world.
The dogs that the PJ brought to the Ocean Club on May 3rd-4th were sniffer dogs that were trained to track the scent of a person using their clothing or other personal items. These dogs did track her scent (reportedly) to another apartment and I even read that they alerted to the pool area at Murat's villa. They also tracked her scent to a garbage bin by the supermarket and down to the beach. They were not cadaver dogs or blood dogs (completely different training) and would not have been able to alert to a corpse. AND if, as I have always thought, Maddie's body was moved/buried/hidden somewhere away from the resort and say someone took some of her clothing and then walked around Praia da Luz.....
The last thing to think about is the fact that the death scent could have come from someone who touched say an item of clothing on the body and then touched the car keys, cuddle cat, the jeans. Or the items in question were in close proximity to a body for a period of time in order to come in contact (via air) with those chemicals. The chemicals that the dogs alert to are microscopic, transference is definitely possible.
It amazes me how people discount these dogs, to me, their findings were the straw, so to speak.