Penn Vet Working Dog Center Celebrates Five Years of Success

Sunny, a Labrador retriever in training, with his Penn Vet handler during a luggage search demonstration

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Penn Vet Working Dog Center. At a special celebration held this weekend on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Vet showcased its dogs to an enthusiastic crowd of guests.

Penn Vet’s successful research is a tribute to the energy and vision of Executive Director Dr. Cynthia Otto and her dedicated team of professionals and volunteers. Their important work has mitigated threats to the homeland and saved lives with the help of trained canines like “Hoke,” “Rookie,” “Zoe,” and “Thunder,” dogs carefully taught to sniff out fire accelerants, explosives, narcotics, and disaster victims.

Red Arch Cultural Heritage Law & Policy Research soon hopes to join Penn Vet to discover whether working dogs can spot antiquities traffickers by intercepting smuggled cultural artifacts at ports of entry.

Learn more about the K-9 Artifact Finders program at www.redarchresearch.org..

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