"Sniffing out danger: Dogs help keep airport safe for passengers"

Monday, March 19, 2007

Sniffing out danger: Dogs help keep airport safe for passengers
By Terry Date
The North Andover (MA) Eagle-Tribune


LONDONDERRY - Csoki the bomb-sniffing dog pads into the airport elevator,
lowers his nose to the floor and trains it along the outer edges, facing the
doors as they close. He waits.

The compartment descends and the green-eyed bird dog looks eager, eager to
exercise his estimated 225 million nasal receptors - about 220 million more
than a human nose.

It's another day at work, but for Csoki it might as well be another day in
paradise. He enjoys his work and gets right to it once on the job site at
Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, says his handler, Glenn Kramer.

Csoki and Kramer were one of three K-9 teams certified earlier this month
after 10 weeks training at Lackland Air Force Base. The dogs and their
handlers work in cooperation with the airport's 200-member federal
Transportation Security Administration force and the Londonderry Police
Department.

The dogs and their ultrasensitive olfactories sniff unattended bags,
unattended cars, and airplane-bound luggage at the medium-size airport. They
patrol inside and outside the terminal.

Before 9 a.m. on this particular morning, less than an hour into the day,
Csoki and Kramer had responded to two radio calls to check unattended bags.

Padding off the elevator, Csoki investigates a plastic wrapper on the
terminal floor. Kramer pulls on his lead and choker, saying, "Fooey," a
command meaning "Don't do that." 

The eyes of bag-toting travelers and white-shirted airport employees turn to
the sleek, 53-pound dog with the floppy ears. Kramer says he can't walk five
feet in the terminal without someone wanting to pet the dog.

In the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the TSA has wanted K-9
units in as many airports as possible, airport Director Kevin Dillon said.
The agency began by funding them for larger airports and is now getting
around to some of the smaller ones. A TSA grant of $50,000 per K-9 unit pays
about one-third of the Manchester program's cost. The airport covers the
rest.

Kramer, 48, a 22-year veteran of the Manchester Police Department - 12 of
them as a K-9 handler - says Csoki loves to work. The first minute of the
work day he engages his powerful nose.

Csoki lives with Kramer. They rise early in the morning, around 5:30, Kramer
says. "He just yawned," said Kramer, noting the dog's uncanny timing.

A dog's sense of smell is its window to the world, Kramer said, and it
dwarfs the human sense of smell. 

Airport dog handler Mike Robbins says the airport's K-9 units know people by
their smell. The animals can smell fear as well as friendliness, he says.

"If someone is scared at the airport, (the dogs) key right on them," Robbins
says.

There's no reason for people to fear these dogs, however, since they are not
trained to be aggressive. Just the opposite seems to be the case.

Dillon says there's an interesting dichotomy with having K-9 teams at
airports. 

"Yeah, they are here for a purpose that many people don't want to think
about," he said.

But ultimately, the dogs send the message that the airport is concerned
about security, and fliers appreciate that, Dillon said.

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