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BSO Adds Twin Canine Deputies To Sniff Out Missing Persons

FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – The Broward Sheriff's Office has a couple of new four legged deputies with a real nose for smelling out their target.

Martha is a 12-week old bloodhound. She and her twin brother Don are in training with BSO for search and rescue operations for missing persons.

Bloodhounds don't rely on their sight but instead the scent of the person they are searching for.

The anatomy of a bloodhound makes them good trackers. Though their slobber can be a nuisance, it actually helps the dogs keep the scent they are following wet and "alive" in their nose. Also, while they are tracking, the hounds' ears will go back and forth to fan the odor up closer to their nose.

The puppies were donated to BSO by the Jimmy Ryce Foundation. The Jimmy Ryce Center was established in the memory of 9-year-old Jimmy Ryce, who was kidnapped and murdered on September 11, 1995. The Jimmy Ryce Foundation gives well bred, AKC bloodhounds free to law enforcement and rescue groups to be used in the search of missing persons, specifically abducted or lost children.

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