| July 09. 2006 7:47AM Worcester company’s dogs help ensure safe passage Dogs protect island ferries
FALMOUTH— It’s 10 a.m. on a muggy, overcast Friday at the ferry terminal in the village of Woods Hole. Travelers in shorts and flip-flops loiter near a dock. A few bicyclists wait patiently to board the next ship to Martha’s Vineyard. They all get the once-over from Cali. She checks the luggage and patrols the queue of cars waiting to drive aboard the Islander for the trip across Vineyard Sound. She casts a wary eye on dogs that parade past her on their owners’ leashes. Then, with everything in order, she sits down for a breather. And wags her tail. It’s just another day of work for Cali, a 5-year-old Belgian Malinois that is one of about 150 dogs used nationwide by American Detection Technologies Inc., or AMDETECH, to ferret out contraband at ports and other sites where security is key. The dogs use their exquisite sense of smell and carefully trained behaviors to supplement searches and other tactics of security workers. And they do it fast. “They add a layer of security in a speedy manner,” said Lawrence S. Ferreira, director of security for the Steamship Authority, the quasi-public agency that operates ferries between the mainland and Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. “The dogs can do a car or a truck in less time than it takes to open a trunk.” Law enforcement officers and others have long used dogs to search for drugs and explosives, and with good reason. Dogs are naturals at the business of detection. Some experts estimate that dogs possess 20 times more olfactory receptors, or “smell” cells, in their snouts than humans do in their noses. It’s hard to tell how much more powerful than humans that makes them at detecting scents, but the difference is substantial. Dogs can sniff out cadavers under water and follow the trail of one suspect through busy areas cluttered with people. That physical ability combines with a desire to work with and please humans, said Dr. Michael S. Stone, clinical professor at Tufts University’s Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in Grafton. “Basically, they were developed to scent, to hunt, to survive,” Dr. Stone said. AMDETECH, a privately held company formed in 2002, has its dogs in action in 33 ports and cities, a business that keeps the company’s cadre of about 65 handlers busy performing as many as 200 searches a month, according to President and Chief Executive Ronald H. Allen. AMDETECH’s administrative offices are in Worcester, and it has operations in Florida and Louisiana. About 15 people work for the company full time. Many AMDETECH employees and handlers have law enforcement backgrounds. The company’s biggest customers are cruise lines, which hire AMDETECH to screen pallets of provisions and other goods before they get loaded onto the massive vessels. What clients want ferreted out is explosives. The Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 boosted demand for AMDETECH’s dogs and handlers by requiring ships and ports to develop security plans for luggage and vehicles in an effort to identify and deter terrorist threats. This year, AMDETECH is on course to post $3 million to $4 million in revenues, said Mr. Allen, who is also an equity owner of the business. “The Maritime Transportation Security Act specifically calls for screening of things that are being delivered to the pier and loaded on the ship,” Mr. Allen said. “We search some 60,000 pallets every month.” Ferries might seem an unlikely target for terrorists, but terrorists linked to al-Qaida have previously targeted transportation systems in other countries. In 2004, terrorists’ bombs on trains killed 191 people in Madrid, Spain. Blasts on three subway trains and a bus in London last summer killed more than 50 people. Mr. Ferreira of the Steamship Authority said AMDETECH’s dogs and handlers, now in their second year of working the ferry terminals, have found hidden contraband. “The dogs have found weapons on legitimate police officers,” Mr. Ferreira said. As workers go, Cali the Belgian Malinois has her quirks. She needs a break every hour or so to slurp down some water or lounge in a cage. She likes to chase pigeons. She nuzzles up for hugs. She wants all those retrievers and terriers and mutts heading for the islands with their owners to know that she’s in charge. “She has a chip on her shoulder,” said Bruce T. Allen, AMDETECH’s director of operations and brother of CEO Ronald Allen. “Every dog has a personality, and if there’s another dog around, she wants them to know she’s the boss.” Some days, Cali and other dogs and handlers work in Woods Hole. Other days they work in Hyannis, screening the luggage and cars heading for Nantucket. AMDETECH and the Steamship Authority mix up the routine to throw off anyone who might be watching. Sometimes state troopers with dogs work the scene instead. “The key to security is, don’t become predictable,” said Ronald Allen. “Routine is where the danger is. Not only do we want to detect, we want to deter.” For the Steamship Authority, the key is to accomplish all that while keeping freight and travelers moving on a tight schedule. The authority transported 2.6 million passengers, 455,657 automobiles and 141,620 trucks in 2005. In places such as the port of Miami, AMDETECH’s dogs check over massive pallets of provisions. The scale is significantly larger than the Massachusetts ferries, but the workload is not so different because AMDETECH dogs may work 10 ferry departures a day in Woods Hole or Hyannis, said Ronald Allen. “It’s a different kind of approach than the cruise lines, but we get to have a bigger impact here because we deal directly with the public and the public sees it,” he said. Travelers have varying reactions to security measures, said Wayne C. Lamson, Steamship Authority general manager. “It runs the whole spectrum of people that don’t mind … and others that feel it’s a violation of their constitutional rights,” Mr. Lamson said. Last year, the Vermont Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union challenged the government over the maritime security law, saying that the constitution protects against random searches of vehicles and luggage on the ferries that cross Lake Champlain and that the government had not shown that the ferries were realistic targets for terrorists. A U.S. District Court judge in Vermont upheld the screenings, but the ACLU has appealed to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A lawyer for the ACLU said the case is under advisement. Back at the Woods Hole dock, Cali is still working the dock as the Islander, a 55-year-old ferry, floats away for Vineyard Haven. Not all dogs make the cut that Cali did to become an AMDETECH dog, according to Bruce Allen. Dogs must be at least 1-1/2 years old, just old enough so the company can assess the dog’s health. A dog that looks like it might develop hip problems is out. Dogs also must show a high “play drive,” which is a strong urge to have fun. For Cali, fun is a slightly ratty yellow tennis ball that her handler will toss for her if she works. “She knows we’ll play if she finds something,” Bruce Allen said. “It’s a motivator.” If Cali does find something, she screeches to a halt and sits. Her handler and others then take over to determine what she has found. By the end of the day, if Cali finds nothing, her handler will hide something for her to find. Which leads, of course, to some playing that keeps Cali happy. Cali cannot work nonstop, however. That’s why AMDETECH always works its dogs in pairs or teams. While one dog rests, another can work. If one dog gets sick or injured, a second dog can take over. Cali’s partner today is Balu, a 4-year-old male border collie who is something of a charmer. “He’s very, very friendly, almost to a fault,” Bruce Allen said. “If everybody wants to pat Balu, he wants to stop working.” Still, Balu is giving Cali a chance to lounge in her kennel and lap up some water as the vehicle ferry Katama departs for Oak Bluffs. “She knows,” Bruce Allen said of Cali. “This is her time to rest.” MORE ONLINE Audio and slideshow at: www.telegram.com/ Contact business reporter Lisa Eckelbecker by e-mail at leckelbecker@telegram.com. |