Colombia’s wildlife-tracking dogs sniff out Easter feast contraband
Colombia’s wildlife-tracking dogs sniff out Easter feast contraband
By Jim Wyss
jwyss@MiamiHerald.comApril 3, 2015
BOGOTA — As he trots through the capital’s busy bus station, Dino, a black Labrador mix, stops at a mound of luggage and begins to paw and whine at a lumpy tow-sack.
The two-year-old pup could be confused with one of the hundreds of bomb- and drug-sniffing dogs that are ubiquitous here at airports and bus terminals, but Dino is on the hunt for something else: pious Catholics.
Easter week in Latin America is one of the busiest holidays of the year as millions of people flow in and out of cities fleeing smog and visiting families. It’s also a week where many in this predominantly Catholic country give up red meat. That has created a seasonal demand for the flesh of exotic animals – turtles, iguanas, and armadillos, among them – to play the role of sanctioned protein.
Dino is one of four dogs in the country trained to track down wildlife. His sleek black snout has been fine-tuned to sniff out the most exotic of scents. He can identify turtles, iguana eggs, parrots, parakeets, monkeys and snakes, and all sorts of game meat.
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