3 August 2007
The Sun
Alastair Taylor
Britain's most amazing police dog can earn more than her chief constable.
Springer spaniel Keela is so smart she is hired by other forces for £530 a day plus expenses.
That is a rate of £200,000 a year, compared to the £129,963 paid to South Yorkshire’s top cop Med Hughes.
Keela, 16 months, has helped detectives around the country with high profile cases, including the stabbing of Abigail Witchalls, 26, in Surrey.
Now she is going to the United States to show off her skills to the FBI
Her sense of smell is so keen she can sniff out blood on clothes after they have been washed repeatedly in biological powder.
She can pick out microscopic amounts of blood even on weapons that have been scrubbed clean. And she is able to lead detectives to minuscule pieces of other evidence.
Handlers PC Martin Grimes and PC John Ellis devised a special training regime to focus Keela’s remarkable sense of smell.
John said:
“Criminals will attempt to clean up a crime scene and that is when Keela comes into her own.
“We’ve had Keela since she was a pup. She was the perfect dog and she has done amazingly well.
“Obviously, when she’s called in by other forces they are charged a fee.
“It’s funny to think that she can earn more than the chief constable.
“The FBI are interested in how we work because they are looking at setting up their own unit.”
Mr Hughes said:
“We know other forces, here and abroad, are interested and we must see what opportunities we can develop.”
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