A two-year old black Labrador called Jazz has been trained by former Police Officer and Home Office Police Dog Instructor Mick Swindells to locate SelectaDNA forensic markings on a range of metals including copper, lead and aluminium.
Metal theft is costing the UK economy approximately £770m a year and there are about 1,000 incidents reported each week. Complimenting existing police search procedures, Jazz is able to sniff for stolen metal in places like scrap yards, where metal is often piled high and any containing forensic markings is not immediately visible to the human eye.
Mick Swindells, who started his company Search Dogs UK after retiring as a police officer for Lancashire Constabulary, said: “Jazz is a world-first. She has been trained to sniff out SelectaDNA, which is a unique covert security marker being used by more than three quarters of UK Police forces to track down burglars, robbers and metal thieves and bring them to justice.”
He continued: “As humans we can only search in 2D ie. in the line of sight, but dogs can search in 3D by using their noses. They can be incredibly accurate, and can pinpoint their target to within a couple of centimetres.
“Jazz is able to touch the marked metal with her nose identifying the target scent of SelectaDNA, allowing officers to move in at this point and make further investigations.”
James Brown from Selectamark, added: “Using a trained dog like Jazz to sniff out stolen metal marked with SelectaDNA is surely the ultimate search tool for police and any other investigators determined to catch metal thieves and other types of offenders.”
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