Dogs have nose for drugs in Armstrong County

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Leader Times

Tom Mitchell

They can't read or write, but they are "bilingual" and they have a discerning sense of smell. And anyone who gives their bosses a bad time may find that their bite is far worse than their bark.
Three "drug dogs" report for work almost every day to several law enforcement agencies in Armstrong County. Their names are "Sir Gallahad," "Hera," and "CoCo."

Perhaps the best known of this K-9 trio is Sir Gallahad, or simply "Gallahad" to his friends. Gallahad's trainer and handler is Earl "Bud" Floyd, a deputy of the Armstrong County Sheriff's Department. Floyd said Gallahad, a German Shepherd, joined the department in April, 1997. Gallahad, who will turn 11 in September, makes his home with Floyd and his wife "Honey," in Boggs Township.

"About 10 years ago Sheriff Crawford was farsighted enough to see a growing drug problem in the county and convinced county commissioners that a well-trained drug dog would be an invaluable asset to our department," Floyd said. "Shortly afterward Sheriff Crawford asked me if I would be the dog's handler and the department's official K-9 deputy. I agreed."

Floyd said Gallahad was imported from a kennel and training facility in Stuttgart, Germany, fully trained.

"Since Gallahad was trained in Germany, of course he understood commands only in German. but that was not a problem for me as my wife is from Germany and I speak fairly fluent German. So Gallahad continues to get his commands in German."

Floyd said Gallahad's first assignment was to search for a stash of suspected drugs in a house in North Vandergrift, and his success exceeded Floyd's expectations.

"The residence had been searched and some suspected drugs discovered. However, we thought there might be more," Floyd said. "I led Gallahad through an area that had already been searched and he 'hit' on more drugs that were well hidden and missed in the initial search. A dog's nose doesn't miss much."

"On a more recent raid," he added, "we discovered a fairly large quantity of marijuana packaged for sale at a Parks Township residence. Our county detective asked the suspect if he had anymore drugs hidden anywhere. He swore an oath that there were no more drugs. We brought Gallahad into the basement and he immediately hit on a 4-inch plastic sewer pipe. On close inspection we found the pipe wasn't really hooked up to anything, it was a dummy. Our suspect said he didn't think the dog would smell drugs sealed in schedule-40 pipe. He was again asked if there were any additional drugs, and again he swore that we had found everything. A few minutes later, Gallahad found additional drugs cleverly hidden in a couch."

Although Gallahad is quite aggressive when it comes to locating drug stashes, Floyd said, he is a rather reserved gentleman at home. The Floyds have a cat and another dog, a Pomeranian. He said Gallahad, the cat and the rather diminutive Pomeranian are best of pals, sharing the same food, and often playing together.

"Gallahad is very well behaved," Floyd said, "but he can get physically aggressive if the need arises. He is trained to do this in two stages. In stage one, he goes on alert. He snarls and barks and keeps straining at the leash. He's very intimidating. Stage two is when he is released and goes out to subdue a fleeing suspect or someone who wants to attack me.

"I've never had to release Gallahad for stage two. Several years ago we had a prisoner in the jail who refused to leave his cell to be transferred. He challenged guards to come in and get him. He was ready to put up quite a fight, but as soon as he saw Gallahad at his cell door, barking and baring his teeth, he started packing and came out of the cell very compliant. We've also had Gallahad in the courtrooms when we have a suspect that we think might be a flight risk. "

Floyd said Gallahad is trained to detect a number of drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, meth, hashish and a number of prescription drugs. He said Gallahad has found illicit drugs in a post office, schools, vehicles and in homes during drug investigations. He said Gallahad, like most drug dogs, can detect drug residue on clothing up to four days after drugs have been in a suspect's possession.

"There's not one shred of doubt that Gallahad is one of our department's most valuable assets," Sheriff Larry Crawford said. "And deputy Floyd was certainly the best choice for the job of handling Gallahad. The two have developed an uncanny bond and work well together."

Floyd said that although Gallahad has an excellent nose and a keen desire to work, old age is catching up with him.

"His hips are going bad," Floyd said. "He has had ear surgery several times and our veterinarian, Dr. Lash, has treated him for various skin allergies, but his hips are the worst problem. I suppose the time will come when Gallahad won't be with us. We've thought about that, we've thought about a replacement. We've also discussed ways to fund a replacement dog without tapping into the county budget. It takes a lot of money to buy and train a drug dog, let alone maintain one. Dr. Lash has donated his services so that has saved us a bundle. Today, you're talking a minimum of $25,000 for a fully trained dog and related equipment. Eventually the day will come when Gallahad will no longer be with us, and that will be very hard for me and my wife personally, and very difficult for every one in the department."

Drug dogs are also in use in Apollo and Vandergrift. Apollo police chief Paul Breznican has "Hera" a five-year-old Belgium Malinois, as his constant patrol partner. Breznican said Hera was imported from Belgium and trained at Castle's Academy in Harrisburg.

"I spent several weeks in Harrisburg being trained myself to get to know and learning to handle Hera," Breznican said. "Officer Bill Moore of Vandergrift and I train our dogs together several times a week. We work with master trainer Pat Maloney of Verona."

Breznican said Hera, and Moore's dog, CoCo, are trained to detect the same types of drugs that Gallahad can sniff out, and like Gallahad, the dogs are very good at what they do.

"Hera is very important to our community," Breznican said. "A dog like this is very expensive and we received a lot of donations from businesses and individuals to buy and maintain her. The kids at Small World Day Care collected $400 worth of pennies, nickels and dimes to buy her a bullet proof vest. We also get donations of dog food from a local company."

Breznican said another expensive training item was a bite suit, to train the dogs to subdue a fleeing suspect. He said the suit, made in France, allows complete mobility compared to traditional but bulkier suits. The suit cost $1,200 and is usually worn by state constable Glenn King of Apollo, who helps Breznican and Moore train their dogs by acting as the "bad guy."

"Hera will come to my aid if I need her even if she is in the car," Breznican said. "The car is equipped with a "bail out" device that will automatically open the door and let her out at the push of a button. The car is also automatically temperature controlled to keep her cool in the summer and warm in the winter."

Moore said CoCo and Hera get along well.

"CoCo is only 2-years-old" Moore said, "so she has a lot to learn yet. But she is very obedient and since Paul and I train our dogs together weekly, the dogs get along well. We've worked them together a number of times."

Breznican said while there are no official standards for police dogs in Pennsylvania, his department and the Vandergrift department follow training and use standards set by the North American Police Working Dog Association, and the Pennsylvania Police Working Dog Association.

"Both dogs will come to our aid automatically if we are struggling with a suspect," Breznican said. "But before we release the dogs on a fleeing suspect, we must shout three warnings before letting the dogs go. We also certify our training through Castle Academy in Harrisburg annually."

Like Gallahad, Hera and Coco live in their handler's homes. Breznican said he and his wife have several children, and a family cat, and Hera gets along well with everyone, including the cat. A cat is also part of Moore's household, and CoCo is just another member of Moore's extended family and cat-dog relations are good. Like Gallahad, CoCo takes her commands from Moore in German, but Hera responds only to commands in Czech.

"Our dogs are unique," Moore said. "They can be very aggressive and protective, yet when they are home, they behave well and interact well with every member of our families, including our cats."

Breznican said that despite the high cost of buying and maintaining drugs dogs, the dogs have more than proven their worth by consistantly finding drugs often missed by human searches.

"I can't give you an accurate street value of all the drugs we've been able to find with our dogs," Breznican said. "But the dogs have been able to find hundreds of drug stashes and enabled us to arrest the dealers and get these drugs off the street. But drug dealers are persistent. They'll keep bringing their products into our county and Hera and CoCo will keep finding them. These dogs have a lot of job security, that's for sure."