When the Transportation Security Administration “ hires”dogsto work at passenger screening zones in airports , its employees will be checking for one specific physical trait . Do the frank ’s ears string up down in the mouth ? Do they careen to and fro ? If so , they just might be the right dog for the job .
fit in toABC News , the TSA will now give priority to floppy - eared dog over pointy - dog-eared ace , but only in sections of the airport where passengers and bags are screened . That ’s because the new policy has nothing to do with differences in how the breeds perform ( there are none ) and everything to do with how comfortable passengers feel around the dogs .
David Pekoske , head of the TSA , says floppy - eared dogs likeLabradorandgolden retrieverstend to be perceived as friendlier and less sullen than pointy - eared dog likeGerman shepherds , even if this is n’t rooted in realism . The TSA noticed that Labs have a calming effect on travelers — especially kid — while German sheepman often do the inverse .
“ You ’ll see parent kind of commit their kids out from a dog with pointy ears because , I think , we as a culture recognize that as a tactical dog or a police dog , " TSA adjunct administrator Michael Bilello tell ABC News .
However , that does n’t think of the pointy - eared pooches will be out of a job soon . Bilello says the “ health and operational capableness ” of a hound are still more important than the shape of her ears , and no blackguard will be take from its current post due to the new insurance . The only change is that floppy - eared dogs , if usable , will be yield taste for openings in passenger screening areas . Roughly four in five recent canine recruit have ears that fall plane , and this is a ratio the TSA hop to get with .
agree toThe Washington Post , the TSA practice about 1200 dogs of seven dissimilar breed for rider covering purpose . Only two of those breeds — German shepherds and Belgian Malinoises — have pointy ears .
[ h / tABC ]
