Under Arrest - K is for K9

Image by Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay 

Welcome back to A - Z Blogging Challenge 2019.

K is always a bit of a stretch in the English language. My theme in 2018 was travel destinations, and I was talking about South Africa's Kruger National Park. Check out pictures of the Big Five! We met lion cubs, a gorgeous leopard, rhino, buffalo, elephants and many more!

Speaking of animals, this year's K is for K9, aka canines, the highly trained "sniffer dogs" that help law enforcement to find missing persons, dead or alive - or drugs and bombs for that matter. 

How does it work?


Detection dogs that are trained for police purposes typically smell microscopic particles (referred to as raft particles) which are shed by the human body at a rate of 40,000 per minute.  They reside where they fall for a while, and about 50% stay airborne.  Eventually they decay and the canine’s olfactory abilities can detect their scent.  The trained nose can track a scent footprint to footprint, by following the highest concentration of ground particles, or through air scenting.  

I was talking about Scott Peterson's case last week. Four types of dogs were used in the investigation to find his missing wife Laci: 

• Scent dogs, they are the one called K-9s (canines), can detect human scent, which, whether dead or alive is the same until the body begins to decay.  K-9s were used in the neighborhood and park on the night of the 24th and during the next day.  Primarily, their purpose was to find an injured Laci.
• Trailing dogs, also called bloodhounds, can pick up the most recent trail of the missing person, having been given the person's scent from a personal item.  Trailing dogs were used the night of December 26 to trail Laci's route from 523 Covena to the warehouse, on December 28 at the Berkeley Marina, and on January 4 to do a drop trail along Hwy 132. 
• Cadaver dogs can pick up decaying human scent, and were used in the search warrant on December 27 at both 523 Covena and the Warehouse. 
• Water cadaver dogs can pick up decaying human scent in water, and were used at several locations, including the San Francisco Bay as early as December 28. 

There are different kind of police dogs in terms of breeds:

German Shepherd

Image by cocoparisienne from Pixabay 

Dutch Shepherd

Image by petrahagedorn from Pixabay 

Belgian Malinois

Image by janeb13 from Pixabay 

Bloodhound

Image by XYLA from Pixabay 

Indian Pariah Dog

Image by SonamisPaul from Pixabay

What I like about the concept of using dogs is that they don't have an agenda, and they're not being paid by either party. The dogs are excited about a search and will get their treat for a job well done!

Before I leave, I'd like to talk about another K-word: Karma!

What does Karma have to do with my A-Z about all things criminal? It's simple, actually:

Karma is the result of a person's actions as well as the actions themselves. It is a term about the cycle of cause and effect. According to the theory of Karma, what happens to a person, happens because they caused it with their actions.

There you have it: if you kill people, you'll get caught and put in prison where you'll rot for the rest of your life. 

Sometimes it takes decades, and it's frustrating for law enforcement and the victims' families, but the day you hear the guilty verdict, you feel some kind of achievement, maybe even justice. Of course this won't bring back the loved one you've lost.

Do you believe in Karma? Did you have a specific incident where you thought it worked out perfectly? Let me know below and be sure to be back tomorrow for the letter L!

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay