The Paws To Recognize program showcases the valuable contributions that some 15,000 professionally trained service dogs make to our lives every day. For the past two years, the CBP canine candidates have been in the “Top Dog” winner’s circle. The 2003 nominee “Crazy Joe” was honored as the winner of the voting contest and the 2004 nominee “Trouble” was honored as co-winner of the voting contest. Both dogs received honors as the voters’ favorites, and had their paw prints enshrined for the “Paws” walk of fame.

“The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Canine Enforcement program is growing and is aimed at combating terrorism. This year's candidate, Jacko, detects concealed humans trying to enter the country illegally as well as detecting narcotics. The terrorist threat is very real, and an issue our CBP officers and Border Patrol agents must deal with every day,” said Commissioner Robert C. Bonner. “U.S. Customs and Border Protection's detector dogs are an important tool in meeting the challenge to detect and intercept those threats.”

During Jacko’s illustrious six-year career, he has alerted to and possibly saved the lives of over 179 concealed humans. Jacko has also discovered over 32,000 pounds of marijuana, 800 pounds of cocaine, 9.68 pounds of heroin, 17,946 doses and 482.5 pounds of other controlled substances, and is responsible for the seizure of $442,989 in drug contaminated currency.

A proud moment in Jacko and BPA Thomas’ career was his alert on two different groups of concealed people being smuggled illegally into the United States through an interior immigration checkpoint. Jacko’s discovery averted a potentially disastrous situation for 49 people who were hiding inside wooden boxes on two flatbed tractor-trailers. The boxes were nailed shut, tied down to the trailers, and were covered by tarps. One box contained 28 men, women, and children and included only one gallon of water and a package of bologna. The other box contained 21 men, women, and children and had no water or food.

Jacko’s training included 11 weeks at the CBP Border Patrol’s National Canine Facility in El Paso, Texas. He received five weeks of intense training before he was teamed with BPA Thomas. Jacko and Thomas then had five additional weeks of training at the National Canine Facility, and after arriving at the Sierra Blanca Station, the team had an additional week of on-the-job training. Jacko can detect marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamines, heroin, and concealed humans.

At U.S. borders and checkpoints, CBP dogs can screen a vehicle in seconds and do a thorough exam in minutes. Even a cursory search by an officer would require at least 20 minutes. These dogs are also able to check packages in a fraction of the time needed by mail examiners—saving time, money, and people.

All the nominated canines will be posted on the Pedigree website at www.pedigree.com and voting will begin on April 15 and end on July 15. The winner will be recognized at an award ceremony in August. Let’s all get out there and vote for Jacko and make it a three-peat for CBP. EC