Sniffer dog demand up after bombs

Wagtail UK sniffer dogs are trained for a variety of searches

A firm hiring out sniffer dogs to hunt for explosives and guns says demand has risen since the July London bombings.

Wagtail UK, based at RAF Sealand in Flintshire, describes dogs as "the most reliable and consistent factor" in the search for illegal substances and arms.

MD Colin Singer said other countries look to Britain because of the UK's long experience in combating terrorism.

Wagtail also hires dogs to businesses worried about staff using or hiding drugs on company premises.

Countries around the world are contacting us because they know they will be trained to the standards that we've set Colin Singer, Wagtail UK on his dogs

Mr Singer set up the business after 24 years' RAF experience working as a dog handler in such places as Northern Ireland, the Falklands and Cyprus.

He said the company had sent dogs to a variety of countries, including in the Middle East and Far East.

"Since the events in London we've been employed at venues in London searching areas," he said.

"It's a worldwide problem now so the demand over the last few months particularly has grown and, yes, it is a growing business."

Dogs usually pick up all explosives' smells once they have one

Mr Singer said other countries were starting to catch up with the UK in training sniffer dogs.

"But with our experience in the British military, we've had these dogs for a long time in Northern Ireland, and we've had our problems on the mainland in the UK as well.

"So we find that countries around the world are contacting us because they know they will be trained to the standards that we've set."

Although in theory dogs could be trained to find both explosives and drugs, in practice they are restricted to one or the other, because the animal would be incapable of giving a different type of alert to show what it had found.

Training can take 6-12 weeks or longer, depending on the dog and the standard it needs to reach.

"Once we get the dog on one scent of an explosive they usually pick up all the other different explosives pretty quickly," said Wagtail's Louise Wilson.

The company also hires dogs to search for drugs in the workplace, to look for mines and in arson investigations.