SCHOOL DISTRICT HIRES DRUG-SNIFFING DOG SERVICE

Belle Fourche Schools Retain Services Of Private Company

The Belle Fourche School District has hired a service that uses dogs
to detect drugs on campus, and the public can watch a demonstration
of the dogs at work today.

The demonstrations are at 1 p.m. at the middle school gym and at 2
p.m. at the high school gym.

Superintendent Bill O'Dea said the school has contracted with
Interquest Detection Canines to make random, unannounced visits to
the middle and high school.

Because the dogs are not law-enforcement trained, he said, they are
more like average pets that have learned to alert their handlers to
a wide range of drug and "gunpowder" scents in schools, parking lots
and other outdoor areas.

Several area school districts have hired the nationwide firm to do
sweeps of parking lots and school buildings at the same time to
reduce travel costs for the Montana franchise of the Houston-based company.

He said the dogs would not "sniff" people, but they are able to
detect the scent of illegal drugs on school desks.

Interquest founders introduced the use of private-sector dogs in
schools in the 1970s and have procedures that ensure the program is
both effective and within legal guidelines, O'Dea said.

For more about the company, visit www.interquestk9.com.