Remembering 9/11: TSA Names Bomb Dogs After Victims Killed 9/11

*Bratdog approved this post*

From Travelers Today:

Travelers Today | By Katie McFadden

Sep 11, 2012

Labrador puppies "Hoey" and "Hatton" are photographed at the Pentagon near Washington.(Photo : Reuters)

After the events of 9/11 took place, the security process of the TSA grew more strict, but that isn't the only way that the terrorist attacks on September 11^th affected the Transportation Security Administration. The TSA honors the victims of those who died on 9/11 by naming their bomb dogs after them.

After September 11, 2001, the TSA started to train their own airport police dogs. The agency breeds their own bomb detection dogs at the Lackland Airforce Base in San Antonio, Texas. There are about 1,000 TSA bomb dogs at airports across the country.

The dogs are trained to find explosives and bomb-making materials. The dogs can smell different types of illegal substances and they're almost always correct.

The TSA's Canine and Breeding Development Center first started in 1999. It started with six adult female and two male dogs. There was no hurry to breed the dogs right away, but that all changed after September 11, 2001. The first breeding occurred in January 2002 and over 500 puppies have been born since.

Each puppy that is bred through the program is named after a victim who died in the attacks on 9/11 to honor their memory. For instance, the TSA's 500^th puppy was named Dolan after Capt. Robert Edward Dolan Jr., who died in the Pentagon attack. K9's Judge, named after the FDNY Chaplain Mychal Judge and Beyer, named after firefighter Paul Beyer, both inspect airport terminals at Southwest Florida International Airport....

More here.