OLYMPIA Pit bulls as crime fighters?
That’s the goal of a Diane Jessup, who rescues pit bulls from animal shelters and dogfighting operations around the nation and brings them to LawDogsUSA.
She trains them and then donates the dogs to law enforcement agencies to sniff out drugs and bombs, a task more commonly performed by German shepherds, Doberman pinschers, and Belgian Malinois.
“My pit bulls right now are Jackie Robinson,” she said, referring to the first black player in Major League Baseball. “They’re breaking a barrier down.”
Trooper Steve Gardner, a dog trainer with the Washington State Patrol, said eight pit bulls donated by Jessup are being used by the patrol to find narcotics and bombs. He said two more puppies from Jessup are about to enter the police dog training academy.
Jessup said another pit bull is working with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security patrolling Washington state’s ferries.
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