Send In The Dogs

With exclusive access to handlers working with some of Britain’s hundreds of police dogs, this new four-part ITV1 series explores the everyday challenges they face – including explosives, armed criminals and violent crowds, a well as potential terrorists.

Police dogs are considered to be officers in their own right, tackling dangerous and volatile situations and venturing into hazardous areas where humans fear to tread. The dogs are trained to sniff anything from explosives to weapons, drugs or tobacco.

This week, Send in the Dogs follows dogs from the West Yorkshire Police and Eddie and Keela, two of the most famous dog detectives in Europe, who used to work for South Yorkshire Police. Eddie and Keela are highly skilled sniffer dogs - technically known as victim recovery dogs - who search for and locate human remains. Owner Martin Grimes demonstrates how he trains them by hiding a jar of sand containing the remains of a corpse that was buried one hundred years ago. Eddie successfully finds the scent within minutes.

Keela is trained to find blood traces on murder weapons which have been wiped clean, as well as the scent from decomposing bodies. Because of their skills, both dogs have been called into two of the highest profile investigations of the past year. Martin Grimes tells Send in the Dogs how he, Keela and Eddie flew out to Portugal to try to find clues about what might have happened to Madeleine McCann. And more recently, both dogs have spent months in Jersey at the Haut de la Garenne looking for human remains.

Back in Yorkshire, two more dogs are helping trap criminals and sniff out drugs. Send in the Dogs follows Zeus, as he helps “coax down” two criminals found stealing lead of a church roof. Meanwhile Murphy is on a drugs raid. It can take officers hours to search a house for drugs, but with their heightened sense of smell, dogs can do it in minutes and Murphy quickly locates a big block of what is believed to be cannabis resin, hidden under a sofa.

Last edited: Wednesday, 9 July 2008