MasoniCHIP International has been encouraging jurisdictions to consider enhancing their child ID programs to include such things as CHEEK SWABS and TOOTHPRINT dental impressions. We publicize that these identifying items contain “DNA Material” that can be used as “Dog Scent Samples” to aid law enforcement in a speedy recovery of missing children. All this is true .... however .... very few of the "dogs" in service with law enforcement today can "scent track", as they did not receive this specific advanced training. Some have received training in "Air Tracking" or Disturbance Tracking", while others trained to recognize specific static smells like narcotics, bomb materials or humans trapped in avalanches or collapsed buildings. The vast majority are simply and inexpensively trained as patrol/attack dogs that are vicious and attack on command. Once a dog is trained to bite, they can not be untrained.

Having properly trained bloodhounds available is a prerequisite to using our “high tech” samples for recovery. Few if any Patrol/attack dogs, or those trained at only air or disturbance tracking are qualified to track from our "high tech" saliva and cheek cell samples generated at MasoniCHIP Events. In many cases no qualified bloodhounds are available in an entire geographic area. By qualified we refer to receiving training to track with dental impression wafers and cheek swabs that we are generating.

The dilema is .... yes we are generating "comprehensive Child ID packages" that contain dog scent samples.... but does law enforcement in our geographic area have canines trained to use them. In many instances a police commander will order his Canine Unit, a basic patrol dog, to be brought to the crime scene and expected to track a trail with no training to do so. They then may come back saying that the samples we generated were no good. It is not our samples but the inability of their dogs, due to lack of proper training.

We need to educate ourselves and our local law enforcement that there are specialized dogs available, trained with scent transfer equipment (STU-100), and trained to follow scent samples like dental impression wafers and cheek swabs. These bloodhounds serve as "Community Service Dogs", specifically trained for terrain where they will be in service to find missing children as part of newly formed CART (child abduction responce teams) Squads as part of the Amber Alert system superintented by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. 

Dog track training, like Freemasonry is a progressive science, a journey with many paths that can be pursued, and the benefits realized depend on the time and energy put in. Scent Discrimination Tracking or "Bloodhound Training" is one of the highest levels of training, and only those dedicated devote the time, energy and funding necessary to get it done and continue to support the trained teams on an ongoing basis. It takes double the time and money to select, specialty train and partner a scent discriminating dog, compared to the rank-and-file patrol dogs ($8,500 vs. $4,500).  

We at MasoniCHIP encourage Masonic Lodges and our member Grand Lodge jurisdictions to work with their local law enforcement help raise the additional funding necessary to place these highly trained dogs in our communities in lue of simple patrol dogs. Local law enforcement budgets can seldom afford such luxuries as the purchase of specailzed bloodhounds. 

That is what gets us into the "Dog" business. We need to identify such capable dogs in our states ... if there are any.... and if not the Freemasons can help put this additional tool to work in our communities. This presents another opportunity for Freemasons to raise public awareness of the shift away from scent tracking dogs to homeland security disaster dogs, due to government grant money for this type of trained dogs, and do something about it to assure that proper Bloodhounds are placed to scent track utilizing the scent track samples (dental impressions and cheek swabs) we are generating by the hundreds of thousands across America. both go hand in hand.

Our collaboration with Canines For Kids, Inc has evolved since 2003 and continues as every dog placed by them receives scent track training with dental impressions and cheek swaps. Browse the fifteen (17) bloodhounds and shepherds placed to date by Public Safety Dogs, Inc and see if there is one in your area.