German Shepherds (
Alsatians) are being trained in the U.S.A. to detect offenders who discharge sewage into drains. To be
more precise, those who discharge waste water into municipal drainage sources - such as manholes and stormwater drains - that ought to carry rainwater.
Why should these Alsatians (trained dogs who have many years of experience in tracking) be wasting their precious time on city and county projects in the state, one may ask? Surely, there are other urgent requirements to be met. The reasons are not far to seek:
i. For starters, this activity is
illegal, and needs to be monitored.
ii. The Alsatians are
accurate - an accuracy of 84% is claimed - and they provide quick results.
iii.The ability to provide quick results saves the county governments both
time and money.
iv. The Alsatians work for an
environmental company.
The idea is novel, innovative, relavant (in an era where environmental consciousness has reached its zenith) and has also found its way into print. But, does it have a viable future ahead of it? Only time will tell...