Dogs alert to odor and direct the handler to the source of the odor, and then
the officer searches for drugs in the area
where source odor was indicated. Every
handler has had the experience of his
dog alerting to a vehicle in which odor
was present but no drugs were found.
That should not shock anyone when it
happens, nor should it shock the judge
or the lawyers involved in the case —
once they learn that a dog does not find
drugs but merely alerts to drug odor.
Ted Daus is an assistant state attorney assigned to the Drug Trafficking Unit, with over
20 years as a prosecutor for the Broward
County State Attorney’s Office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He is also Police K- 9 Magazine’s Associate Editor for legal issues.
n ABOVE: Dogs alert to odor and direct the handler to the
source of the odor.
