SEE SPOT FIND $20 MILLION IN DRUGS

U.S. Customs Service Looks For Potential K-9s In Ashland

Last year, David Bynum put 75,000 miles on his vehicle during 269 days on
the road, all in the quest for a few good... dogs.

The United States Customs Service has about 650 K-9s working to detect
illegal drugs, currency and explosives at 260 ports of entry into the
country at any given time. Bynum, a Customs officer, is one of four people
responsible for finding new dogs to maintain the ranks.

The catch is that Customs gets almost all their dogs from the masses
awaiting adoption or euthanasia at the nation's animal shelters. Bynum and
his colleagues travel the country stopping at shelters, pounds and humane
associations - like the adoption center operated by the Chequamegon Humane
Association near Ashland - and giving likely dogs a chance to strut their
stuff.

The dogs Bynum and his fellow officers want are typically the cast-offs
from the pet world; high-energy, destructive dogs that have an insatiable
urge to fetch. Those dogs rarely work out as pets and are often returned to
adoption agencies time and again. If everything works out, though, the dogs
can find jobs and homes with customs officers that use their unique
abilities every day.

There are a series of hoops the dogs have to go through to become a Customs
K-9, starting with how they look. Bynum said the service is looking for
labs, golden retrievers and German shepherds, or mixed-breed dogs that "are
good representatives" of one of those breeds. The service also uses pit
bulls, though not in high visibility positions.

Next comes the fetch test. Bynum uses a rolled up towel to test dog's drive
to fetch. He throws it for the dog a few times and judges the dog's
reaction. He's looking for a dog that will keep retrieving no matter what.
The fetches get progressively more difficult. Bynum tests dogs' willingness
to get the towel from under a vehicle and from under a rug or garbage can lid.

"When I get a dog out of the kennel, I'll stick the towel in my pocket with
just a little bit hanging out," he explained. "If a dog jumps up and rips
that out of my pocket, that'll be a really good dog."

If the dog passes that test, it'll go to a contracted boarding kennel while
Bynum completes the rest of his trip. Then it and the other dogs Bynum
finds will go to a training center in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains.

There they will undergo a complete medical evaluation, then continue their
fetch assessment. Bynum said he'll see how a dog performs in an active
warehouse, an airport and around other kinds of vehicles like semi-trucks.

Only half of the dogs Bynum brings back will make it to the start of
detector dog training. Of those, only 25 percent will graduate and go to
work with the Customs Service.

The other seven-eighths of the dogs Bynum finds are not just cast aside,
however. Many of them will have careers with other agencies that have
different requirements for their K-9s. Others will be adopted by private
individuals.

Bynum said the Customs Service is committed to finding high quality homes
for all the dogs work with.

"We microchip all our dogs," he explained. "We adopted a dog to someone in
Fort Riley, Kansas. They got tired of him and dumped him, so I drove out
there and got him. That's how dedicated we are to our dogs."

Once a dog makes it to detector dog school, their instincts and energy are
honed until they are sniffing, scratching, digging machines. The method the
Customs Service uses is simple: they saturate a towel with the scent of
drugs, money or explosives, then use the towel to play with the dog. The
dog's energy and drive, which made it hard to adopt in the shelter, keep it
looking for its toy in ever more difficult hiding spots.

"When a dog is out working in the field," Bynum said, "it doesn't say to
itself, 'Oh, boy! There are drugs there!' It thinks it's going to get its
toy. That's why it works so hard."

Customs dogs live the good life during their working years and after they
retire. While they are active K-9s, the dogs live in specially built,
secure facilities that keep them safe from people who might wish them ill.
When they retire, they usually go home with their human partner to live out
the rest of their life in peace.