Wanted Dead or Alive
Preferably Dead!!
Over the years criminals, terrorists and other nefarious individuals have had their lives, ideology and profits seriously disrupted by certain dogs who by the nature of their job have sniffed out money, drugs, explosives and smuggled goods.
This has caused the individuals to be exceedingly annoyed and therefore put a price on the head of the canines concerned.
British Army explosive detection dogs
The 1960s to the 90s
Bounty unspecified.
During the troubles in Northern Ireland, the Irish Republican Army placed bounties on all explosive detection dogs due to the fact that they were so successful at finding booby traps laid for the soldiers.
Lucky and Flo
2007
Bounty Unspecified
In Malaysia Lucky and Flo, two black Labradors are believed to be the first dogs ever to detect what they found, you see they discovered two million pirated DVDs worth $2.8m. Their stint in Malaysia was only for 6 months but they took part in 35 raids. Needless to say, this seriously annoyed the members of the syndicate responsible, as 26 people were arrested thus resulting in the bounty being offered
The two dogs were on loan from the Motion Pictures of America Association, and after the threat, they were taken to a safe house out of harm’s way. They had done their job.
Names Withheld
2008
Bounty £500
The inmates, both loyalist and republican incarcerated in Maghaberry Prison, Ulster, Northern Ireland, were decidedly unhappy with the four Labrador sniffer dogs who worked at the gaol. The dogs, whose names were withheld for security reasons, were so successful at exposing drub smuggling that the prisoners deprived of their habit offered a reward for the dogs’ demise.
On hundreds of occasions the dogs identified visitors who had been in contact with cannabis, and other drugs thus making visiting time extremely stressful for all.
Boss
2012
Bounty Unspecified
In Rio de Janeiro, a Labrador called Boss came to the attention of drug traffickers when he found 400 kilos of cannabis hidden behind a wall. The criminals then thought that they would outwit the dog by placing the next haul of illegal narcotics close to a sewer. That resulted in total failure as Boss had no difficulty finding that stash as well. An intercepted phone call revealed that a bounty had been placed on Boss.
Result: Boss carried on working as before but was accompanied by up to nine armed guards.
Poncho
2018
Bounty $5,000
The name Pocho means “the chubby one” and in this case, the name refers to one of the smallest canines ever to come to the attention of the mafia. You see, Pocho isn’t your classic drug-detection dog. He is not a German Shepherd Dog, Labrador or a Spaniel. Believe it or not, Pocho is a diminutive Jack Russell Terrier donated by a doctor who realized his son was allergic to animal hair, but despite his small stature, he has been responsible for the seizure of 2 tonnes of illegal drugs by the Naples Police.
Scamp
2019
Bounty £25,000
Scamp, the Springer Spaniel sniffer dog was another one of those who has lived with a price on their head. Scamp had a slightly unusual talent, he was especially trained to seek out tobacco!! Not any old tobacco but the illegally imported type. It’s not only that these avoid import duty, but they may include a variety of decidedly dodgy substances like sawdust, mouse droppings and crushed dead insects. On a safety issue, the other problem with illegal cigarettes is that they can be difficult to extinguish, so the risk of fire is raised.
Scamp doesn’t react to someone having a puff on a woodbine with a pint of beer, but he gets very excited if he finds the stuff hidden behind walls or hidden compartments in cars. Having discovered approximately £6m worth of illegal tobacco products in 5 years, Scamp caused organised crime factions considerable loss of earnings, hence the price on his head.
Sombra
The bounty on Sombra is generally considered to be one of the highest ever offered and continued to rise due to the anger she provoked amongst the criminal element. This dog was probably the most protected and heavily guarded canines in history.
For more details of this dog’s amazing career see Deadlier than the Male
Mok and Lai
And finally, on a lighter note two highly successful sniffer dogs employed by the Chiang Rai Airport in Thailand have been sacked for behaviour unbecoming an employee of the state.
It appears that the two, who were originally strays, indulged in antics more in keeping with their stray days. Mok and Lai urinated on the luggage and had the extreme bad manners to mount the legs of the lady passengers!!
To conclude
Do any of these canine super sleuths actually know what they are doing and the chaos that they bring to the lives of the bad guys? No. It’s a game, like finding a toy or working for a reward but for the criminal element, the costs are astronomical.
Over the years losses suffered by the bad guys run into tens of MILLIONS of dollars, not surprisingly then that the bounties are rising so high. Until now we have been unable to make a machine to replicate the sensitivity of a dogs nose and there appears to be no likelihood of one anytime soon.
It is obvious that the astronomical cost of providing round-the-clock armed protection for some of these dogs is easily covered by the financial benefits we receive from their unique canine olfactory system so I guess the current state of affairs will continue for the foreseeable future.
“My windows ain’t dirty that’s my dogs nose art!”
Anon