This fireside chat recap is from Day 1 of FreightWaves’ Global Supply Chain Week. Day 1 focuses on military, aerospace and manufacturing.
FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: Cargo security using canines
DETAILS: Bomb-sniffing dogs aren’t just used by the Army or for security at live events and airports. Did you know they also are widely used to screen air cargo? And in a few months, new rules will require more cargo to be screened. This chat focuses on how trained canine teams are deployed in the air cargo environment and at Miami Heat games to check for the COVID virus.
SPEAKER: Eric Hare, CEO, Global K9 Protection Group
BIO: Hare is CEO of GK9PG LLC, a K9 procurement, training and services provider for government and private-sector entities. The company’s dogs detect many types of threats, including explosives in air cargo. He is a retired U.S. Infantry officer with 25 years of service in many leadership roles and multiple overseas tours that included Iraq and Afghanistan.
KEY QUOTES FROM HARE:
“We have COVID dogs. We’re the first company out there doing mass COVID dogs for the Miami Heat and others. … The science [proves] that canines can almost detect anything that has an odor signature. Canines can be taught to react to that, to things like cancer. …. We worked with a lab, scientists and then with a couple of urgent clinics and hospitals and started running tests. The canines, if you compare it to the PCR, the canines were well above 95% in detecting COVID. … The goal is to give people a better feel of mind that they can go back to these events and help America open back up.”
“It takes eight weeks to train a dog, eight weeks to train a person. Then you have to certify them and put them out. So by the end of March, you have to have your pipeline full to meet the July 1 deadline [for 100% cargo screening].”
“With the pandemic, now we’re procuring dogs based on watching videos and then they’re shipped over because travel is hindered. So we found a work-around with our vendors to still procure dogs.”
Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.