DAVE ROSS

With a shortage of bomb-sniffing dogs, is it time for a puppy draft?

Aug 7, 2017, 6:12 AM

Follow @http://www.twitter.com/thedaveross...

The American workforce has many shortages. Primary care physicians. Happy and fulfilled teachers. Media commentators not obsessed with President Donald Trump.

But there is one shortage more urgent than any of those.

I read this New York Times headline: “America Is Running Out of Bomb Sniffing Dogs.”

I’d thought they’d been replaced by machines.

But security experts will tell you that no machine can out-sniff a dog. The part of the dog’s brain devoted to smell-processing is 40 times the size of ours. Because when dogs have to ID another dog they can’t just check a passport, they have to check the pee, which is highly encrypted.

Unfortunately, the TSA scrapped its dog breeding program to save money! So now it’s having to import dogs from Eastern-European puppy mills. Which strikes me as risky when you consider these animals are the first line of defense.

It also got me to thinking. There is a source of well-adjusted, well-trained American dogs. Pets! American pets today are practically surrogate children. What about a puppy draft?

I would think there are pet owners who would be honored to volunteer a pet in service of the country. The puppy draftees would serve for four years, and when Princess comes home with her medals, she gets a parade. Plus, in an economy where pretty soon everything we buy will be in a package dropped at your door by a drone from who knows where a TSA-trained pet could come in very handy.

Dave's Commentary

Dave Ross on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM
  • listen to dave rossTune in to KIRO Newsradio weekdays at 5am for Dave Ross on Seattle's Morning News.

Dave Ross

car culture...

Dave Ross

Ross: Are we killing car culture? Or is car culture killing the US?

I don’t think the question is whether we're going to "kill" our car culture. The real question is can we stop our car culture from killing the U.S.?

3 days ago

drivers data insurance...

Dave Ross

Ross: As cars release driving data to insurance, is your driving my business?

Every move you make, every swerve you take, every lane change you fake – someone’s watching you. Do drivers have a right to keep driving data private?

10 days ago

rent control...

Dave Ross

Ross: Rent control was never the answer in Wash.

The rent control bill died in the Washington State Legislature this week, even though Democrats control both houses.

30 days ago

end of democracy...

Dave Ross

Ross: Conservative activist earns applause for pledging an ‘end of Democracy’

The theme from Jack Posobiec's speech is that Jan. 6 was a righteous attack not on democracy, but on those who threaten democracy.

1 month ago

Image: Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, is seen on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2023. (Photo: Alex Brand...

Dave Ross

Ross: Voters can help cull bad politicians from the herd early

Let's remember that just about every occupant of a higher office once occupied a lower office, and was put there by us, Dave Ross says.

1 month ago

Super Bowl celebration...

Dave Ross

Ross: The NFL does it again

The NFL once again put on a show that was able to keep me tuned in for four hours even though I had no stake in either team.

1 month ago

With a shortage of bomb-sniffing dogs, is it time for a puppy draft?