Training the Sharp of Smell for the Whiff of Terrorism

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New York Times

By Cara Buckley

Hard-bitten soldiers may love the smell of napalm in the morning, but for a frontline sleuth like Quan, nothing quite beats a deep whiff of TATP.

TATP is triacetone triperoxide, one of the more common liquid peroxide explosives, the kind used in last year’s London transit system bombings and found hidden in the sneakers of the would-be shoe bomber, Richard C. Reid. Experts say peroxides have become terrorists’ explosives of choice, and government agencies are trying to detect them before they are carried onto buses, trains and airplanes.

Which brings us, in turn, to a 3-year-old yellow Labrador retriever named Quan who was once ready to become a Seeing Eye dog before making a rather abrupt career change.

Quan was trained by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to sniff out bomb material, including peroxides. He spent most of this week with his handler, Craig Chillcott, in a cavernous warehouse in the South Bronx, helping to train other dogs from the region.

To ensure that all bomb-sniffing dogs have the necessary skills, the A.T.F. prepared a nationwide standard last year for testing and certifying the dogs, and so far it has certified 750.

Dogs’ sense of smell has made them an important part of searching for prospective bombers, antiterrorist agencies say. Seeing them at work reassures passengers, too, according to transportation officials, and might also deter terrorists.

This week in the Bronx, 35 dogs and their handlers from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and at least one dog from the Passaic County Sheriff’s Department were put through the process, called the National Odor Recognition Test.

It is not mandatory for bomb-sniffing dogs to take the A.T.F. certification, and most of the dogs at the South Bronx testing this week had been trained, or imprinted, to detect peroxides before. Bomb-sniffing dogs from the New York Police Department are not taking the A.T.F. certification because their own training is rigorous, a spokesman said.

Joseph G. Green, an A.T.F. spokesman, said the program’s aim was not only to standardize the training process, but also to reinforce each dog’s memory of dangerous substances while assuring the handlers of their dogs’ prowess. The A.T.F. pays for the training course.

The A.T.F. test seems straightforward, at least from a human standpoint. Fifteen empty paint cans are lined in a row, some planted with traces of explosives, others scent-free.

Each dog must dip its snout in each can, inhale and, if it smells something dangerous, sit. If the dog makes the right call, it is rewarded, usually with playtime from its handler, or some treats. To be certified by the A.T.F., the dogs must go through about 30 cans without a mistake. According to Mr. Green, the dogs are trained to detect five basic types of explosives, which can be mixed to form 19,000 potentially lethal combinations.

Almost all the M.T.A.’s dogs passed the test with ease, said Jeffrey Piacquadio, the A.T.F.’s lead canine instructor, though some became confused and distracted because they had not faced the paint-can test before.

Yesterday, many of the dogs seemed to handle the test easily.

One, a 5-year-old coal-black German shepherd named Jack, a regular patrol on the Metro-North Railroad, did his handler, Officer Cathy Paladino, proud. He zipped from paint can to paint can, quickly sitting when he smelled trouble, staring beseechingly into her eyes.

“It’s like being proud of your child,” Officer Paladino said, beaming. Like nearly all handlers, she lives with the dog.

Another dog, a 5-year old yellow Labrador named Lorenzo, also aced the test, according to his handler, Officer Cesar Cerezo of the Passaic County Sheriff’s Department.

“He hasn’t failed a test yet,” Officer Cerezo said after he loaded a contented Lorenzo into the back of his sport utility vehicle. “I take all the training I can get.”