District to Use Dogs to Curb Drugs at Schools

Specially trained dogs will be used at city schools this semester to sniff out drugs or weapons on campus, officials said Tuesday.

The Labradors and golden retrievers, which can detect illegal drugs, alcohol, gunpowder and some prescription medicines, will be used to conduct searches on a random basis in classrooms, lockers and corridors.

The animals, provided by Interquest of Houston, will sniff objects as opposed to students and will check classrooms when students are not present. If a dog indicates a locker may contain illegal contraband, the locker will be searched only when the student is present.

Mike Ferdinand, Interquest vice president of marketing, said the dogs are a deterrent to potential offenders. Temple City Unified is one of 30 school districts in Southern California as well dozens of private schools the company serves, he said.