Drug Dogs: Addicted or Just Highly Trained?

When the topic of drug detection dogs comes up, it's only natural to delve into the subject of drugs. Today's article will explore a question that might seem outlandish at first: Can drug detection dogs become addicted to drugs?

While you might think the person who asks such a question has a rather imaginative mind, reality can often be far more stark. In 2017, three drug detection dogs in Florida, USA, experienced disobedience and a gradual loss of consciousness while searching for drugs in a room. Thankfully, the police quickly transported them to the hospital.

What caused this? It turned out that the room they were searching contained a large box of fentanyl hidden in the ceiling, which filled the room with the drug's potent odor. The floor and furniture were also sprinkled with fentanyl particles, leading to the dogs' subsequent poisoning.

Let's take a brief look at fentanyl.

Fentanyl is originally a powerful, medicalgrade anesthetic and painkiller. However, since 2013, it has become widely popular in the United States as a type of new drug. Its potency is 50 times that of heroin, and its affordability has made it a hot commodity in the drug market.

The three dogs mentioned had never been trained to detect fentanyl, and due to its extreme toxicity, they suffered poisoning symptoms. According to the doctors who treated them, just inhaling a few grains of fentanyl could be fatal to a dog.

As the saying goes, for every evil, there is a remedy. Just a few months after the incident involving the three dogs, a drug called naloxone was distributed to each dog. This medication effectively blocks the symptoms caused by fentanyl.

What does this case illustrate?

This case demonstrates that drug detection dogs typically do not have the opportunity to develop dependence or addiction to drugs. Instead, they may face direct poisoning and even death when encountering new types of drugs.

But what about the notion that drug detection dogs 'inhale' drugs every day? Can they become addicted?

There are three reasons why drug detection dogs cannot become addicted to drugs, despite their daily exposure to drug odors:

Firstly, drug addiction requires a certain dosage. This means that detection dogs, which are only needed to detect odors to guide police, do not have access to such high doses. In simpler terms, they get a 'taste,' but not enough to satisfy their addiction.

Secondly, many drugs need to be heated before they can be inhaled, but detection dogs, both during inspections and training, are exposed to solid forms of drugs. This further reduces the possibility of addiction.

Thirdly, the way they come into contact with drugs determines that they will not become addicted. Anyone who has watched drug detection dogs in training or at work knows that drug dealers hide drugs in all sorts of places, from tires to backpacks. During training, the dogs are not directly exposed to drugs; instead, the drugs are hidden by the police.

This means that detection dogs are exposed to the smell of drugs, not the drugs themselves being inhaled through the nose. This applies to both heatsensitive and nonheatsensitive drugs.