Preacherman
Member
From the Telegraph, London (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai...12.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/06/12/ixnewstop.html):
'Hot' dogs sniff out only sausages
By David Rennie in Washington
(Filed: 12/06/2003)
An animal trainer has gone on trial accused of supplying the US government with sniffer dogs that could not smell explosives and refused to work after catching a more tempting whiff of hot dogs.
Russell Lee Ebersole, 43, had boasted that he had revolutionised dog training, creating animals so highly skilled that they could tell their handlers which drug they had detected by pointing to plastic letters of the alphabet with their noses.
But according to prosecutors in Virginia, his dogs were useless, putting thousands of lives at risk at the facilities they guarded, including the State Department and tax offices.
After a tip-off to an anti-fraud hotline, private detectives hired by the Federal Reserve drove three vehicles up to entrances at three Reserve buildings, crammed with 50lb of dynamite, 50lb of TNT and 15lb of C-4 plastic explosive. Ebersole's dogs failed to notice anything amiss.
Another dog fell under suspicion when it did not detect a powerful smell of marijuana drifting across a Washington street. In subsequent tests, he was so distracted by the smell of a hidden hot dog he refused to work.
Ebersole faces five years in prison on each of 28 counts, and could be fined up to £875,000. He has pleaded not guilty and blames jealous rival dog trainers for his legal difficulties.
'Hot' dogs sniff out only sausages
By David Rennie in Washington
(Filed: 12/06/2003)
An animal trainer has gone on trial accused of supplying the US government with sniffer dogs that could not smell explosives and refused to work after catching a more tempting whiff of hot dogs.
Russell Lee Ebersole, 43, had boasted that he had revolutionised dog training, creating animals so highly skilled that they could tell their handlers which drug they had detected by pointing to plastic letters of the alphabet with their noses.
But according to prosecutors in Virginia, his dogs were useless, putting thousands of lives at risk at the facilities they guarded, including the State Department and tax offices.
After a tip-off to an anti-fraud hotline, private detectives hired by the Federal Reserve drove three vehicles up to entrances at three Reserve buildings, crammed with 50lb of dynamite, 50lb of TNT and 15lb of C-4 plastic explosive. Ebersole's dogs failed to notice anything amiss.
Another dog fell under suspicion when it did not detect a powerful smell of marijuana drifting across a Washington street. In subsequent tests, he was so distracted by the smell of a hidden hot dog he refused to work.
Ebersole faces five years in prison on each of 28 counts, and could be fined up to £875,000. He has pleaded not guilty and blames jealous rival dog trainers for his legal difficulties.
