Philadelphia organization trains Pit Bulls to be drug detection dogs for police
PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) - Walk into any animal shelter in the country and it’s a safe bet the shelter will be filled with Pit Bulls. Dogs like Wildflower rescued by Carol Skaziak with the The Throw Away Dogs Project.
People will likely always be divided on their temperament but coming up with a way to reintegrate rescue Pit Bulls into society will be saving their lives and Carol has a pretty interesting idea.
“We’re here to show you today and prove to you that she has an amazing personality but she could also be a police dog.”
Throw Away Dogs Project trains rescue dogs and then donates them to police departments. When trainers discovered that Pit Bulls had many of the tendencies necessary for narcotics detection, Carol says training them was a no brainer.
“If I have a variety, an unlimited choice of Pit Bulls that I can train this is a win-win. Not only for the dog, but also for the department and also for the community.”
They know how certain segments of society feel about Pit Bulls. They can say anything but showing is better. And that’s why FOX 29's Bill Anderson was visited Tuesday. First they showed him Wildflower’s skills after 2 months of training. Then, they wanted FOX 29's Bill Anderson to see that even in the middle of aggressively searching for drugs, Wildflower had no issues with strangers. And finally, they involved Anderson in the training to see how strong she is but also that she had no aggression towards me even as I became her training adversary.
The training with Anderson was a just a step to Throw Away Dogs Project trying to convince the public and the police who would work with them that these dogs many who would be otherwise euthanized can instead serve.
Something Wildflower’s trainer proudly reinforced.
“As soon as everyone sees what these dogs are capable of they should be lining up.”
Throw Away Dogs trains the dogs and then donates them to police saving thousands of dollars but now they are also hopeful that those with issues with Pit Bulls will simply allow them a chance to prove their value... for goodness sake.