Pubdate: Fri, 13 Apr 2012 Source: Toronto Star (CN ON) Copyright: 2012 The Toronto Star Contact: http://www.thestar.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456 Author: Richard J. Brennan HARPER GOVERNMENT GIVES SNIFFER DOGS THE BOOT The Harper government is giving sniffer dogs their walking papers. Nineteen of the 72 dogs used by the Canadian Border Services Agency across the country, which are trained to sniff out guns, cash and drugs, were given their pink slips and will be put up for adoption, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews' office confirmed Friday. "We expect the CBSA to use the most effective tools for each job. Detector dogs are a great tool in the right circumstances, but they will no longer be used when there is a better tool available. To be clear, all drug detector dogs at land border crossings will remain in place," Toews' press secretary Julie Carmichael told the Star. According to reports from across the country, CBSA dog handlers had tears in their eyes when they got the news that their four-legged partners were being shown the door. Jason McMichael, first national vice-president of the Customs and Immigration Union (CIU), told the Star that the decision has serious consequences. "Taking away tools such as the detector dog service will make smuggling easier. It will result in more guns and drugs on our street," McMichael said, noting that Ottawa is also throwing away the money it cost to train these dogs. The startup cost for a dog team is more than $100,000, he said. "They are very highly trained and there is a very significant investment in them already. They are used in every facet of our jobs. They are used in land, air, marine and postal. They are one of our most versatile contraband detection tools," he said. There are some 1,150 CBSA notices going out across the country. "These are the folks who develop all the intelligence for the front line to act on. They are telling us who to watch for. They are telling us when the bad guys are going to cross (into Canada). And they are facing significant cuts as well - cuts that will immediately and directly impact smuggling," McMichael said. He added that what the cash-strapped Conservative government is doing is "counter productive" given its position on border security. Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama recently inked a deal to ease cross-border travel and bolster security. "What it is doing now by cutting these jobs is compromising the safety and security of everyone in Canada," McMichael said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom