Searching and finding evidence in cases of wildlife crimes is not easy and can be a tiresome and difficult process.  The Pennsylvania Game Commission has found a way to make locating crime evidence quite easier and the Commission recently doubled down on the method they are using.

The Commission in 2014 incorporated three (3) canines into the ranks to aid in crime article searches, which included everything from arrows to empty firearms casings.  The three canines at this time were being used in multiple regions and the Commission was anxious to see how these dogs would perform.

Assistant Director of the Commission’s Bureau of Wildlife Protection/Special Operations Division Mark Rutkowski said, “The ability of a dog to search a large area and find a minute object that would take a person hours to find, if at all, it really opens your eyes.” 

Immediately the trio of dogs produced results, and they not only helped conservation officers with cases, but were also relied upon by state and local police to aid in searches as well.

The early success of the canine program led the Game Commission to double the amount of dogs from three to six in 2020, one dog for each region. The dogs are all Labrador retrievers and each one is assigned to one of the Commission’s special investigators, who also doubles as a handler. 

The six dogs were deployed 144 times in 2020, followed by 153 deployments in 2021. As of the end of August 2022, the dogs were deployed 55 times and the commission expects the number to increase significantly as the fall hunting seasons begin. 

Rutkowski said, “Most of the deployments were for article searches, locating everything from guns, arrows, shell casings and more. Our dogs can even find a bullet embedded in a tree or locate bait just by tracking an individual to a hunting location. Something that might take a person hours to find with a metal detector, the dogs could find it in minutes.” 

The canines are also trained to locate deer, bears, turkeys and waterfall, along with tracking people, such as a lost hunter or fugitive. The dogs aren’t trained in drug detection, and they don’t attack like a police dog. Police departments frequently request canine help to locate discarded weapons used in a crime and sometimes it doesn’t matter how long ago the crime was committed for the case to be made by the dogs using their nose. 

The dogs are trained at a Game Commission facility and the process takes 2 years before they are certified by the North American Police Work Dog Association. Each dog is in service for 10 years, and during that time the canines are also utilized for public outreach programs. 

Rutkowski concluded, “The dogs are social animals, and they are used to working around people and noises. They are really beneficial for outreach to hunters and non-hunters alike, helping to promote what we do. The canines have definitely increased our cases by discovering evidence that in many cases would never have been found. When we got to one canine in each region, it really catapulted the program.”