Bristol County Sheriff’s Office K9 COVID detection program has begun deployment

“The Bristol County Sheriff’s Office’s K9 Covid detection program is hitting another gear this month as the teams have started being deployed, and have also been training with the Delta and UK Variants.

Detectachem Inc. has provided the Sheriff’s Office with liquids containing the Delta and UK Variant scents, as well as base COVID-19. K9 Capt. Paul Douglas uses a few drops of them on gauze pads to create training tools for K9s Huntah and Duke. The picture is of the kit that contains all the liquid samples.

“It’s been going great so far,” Capt. Douglas said. “The dogs picked up the variants very well. They already had the base COVID-19 down, so the variants were easy for them. It’s been great working with Travis and the folks at DetectaChem on these variants.”

It’s the latest development as the BCSO COVID K9 program begins to sweep interiors around the county. In the last few weeks, Capt. Douglas and the dogs have been deployed to office spaces and schools in Fall River and New Bedford through partnerships with Fall River Fire Department, New Bedford Fire Department and the New Bedford Health Department. Of the seven requests for aid, the K9s have detected COVID in two locations with five areas being clear.”-Bristol County Sheriff’s Office.