Don't want to get into a debate about the McCanns as I have my views on the Madeleine saga and expect all off you do as well.

What I want to ask is what do you all think of the findings of the British cadaver dogs in PDL in early August?

Please can we not get into the rights and wrongs of the McCanns leaving the kids alone.

Thanks

Karen

My only thought is - if the dogs have found cadavar scent - how could it proved who the cadavar was?

They showed a demonstration of a dog scenting a car this evening. They 'simulated' a cadaver by using pork which apparently is like a human cadaver. Am I being a bit thick here, but surely someone could have had some meat in the McCann's car ?????

So far, IMO, nothing has been proved in this case :( :( Just lots and lots of speculation :(

Daisy

Trained sniffer dogs can tell exactly what is what (i.e. they KNOW the scent they have been trained for) and would not mistake pork for human flesh. :) http://www.crime-scene-investigator.net/cadaverdogs.html

but how would they know WHICH cadaver they were scenting?

THAT they would not, I assume.

would not mistake pork for human flesh

But the dog did indicate where the pork had been - they basically said in the programme that pig meat was the closest smell to human flesh, which was why they used it and the dog did indicate both where the pig meat and human blood had been. The handler said that there was no way of telling which one was the blood and which the meat as the dog simply indicated the presence of the scent. The dog could well have scented blood in the boot of the car in Portugal I would think, this could have been from anyone I would imagine.

I came across the following info on another forum :-
"The suggestion that these dogs only smell and trace death is misleading. What they actually trace is chemicals. Some of those chemicals are overly present in a corpse or cadaver after 1 :30 hours but that chemical is ALWAYS present in the body, its just that it is much stronger after a period of decay and the other chemicals around it and the human immune system no longer interfere with its production.
This chemical is an INDIVIDUAL scent and not just the scent of death.
These dogs can be given the Pre Death chemical gained from any other item of the supposed victim that has been enhanced and therefore will ONLY seek out the FINAL Cadaver Chemical from THAT victim as its only that that will get it its salmon dinner ! "

Hmmm.  I do know that when a friend's detector dog was being trained for fish and wildlife work she had to be trained separately on several different fish species.  Apparently a Pickerel does not smell the same as a Trout.  I believe the fish were alive and dead since fisherpeople often keep a bucket of water handy to stash their catch in.  I know some were well good and dead and frozen to boot.  Her handler never knew what she was scenting on till he found it though.  Wouldn't the cadaver dog be similar?   The dog is trained on diffent scents, learns to search for all of them but the handler can't tell which scent the dog is on till it makes a find?  I did read the last post describing how the dog can be asked to search for a particular individual too but I wonder if that is always the case?  I'm thinking of dogs used at disaster scenes, like an earthquake, where a particular person's scent is not available.

A good working gundog has to be able to distinguish between a live pheasant, partridge, or other game, shot and wounded game and dead game. I know my own dogs are used for "dogging in" healthy unshot game, then when shooting they have to be able to find dead and wounded game and of course bring it to hand, but leave the unshot alone. They do it so naturally, so there must be some differences they are looking for.
I wonder if it has developed because a wild hunter like a dog might hunt for food or might scavenge food? An easy meal might be more attractive than one that has to be caught first? With selective breeding these talents may well have become enhanced and now are adaptable to our uses what ever they might be.