ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Published Online: 1 July 2003
Page Count: 6

Reliability of Bloodhounds in Criminal Investigations
(Received 1 March 2003; accepted 31 January 2003)

Abstract

Anecdotal evidence and legend have suggested that bloodhounds are capable of trailing and alerting to a human by his or her individual scent. This same evidence may be presented to a court of law in order to accuse a particular suspect or suspects of a crime. There is little to no scientific evidence confirming the bloodhound's ability to trail and discriminate the scent of different individual humans. Eight bloodhounds (3 novice and 5 veteran), trained in human scent discrimination were used to determine the reliability of evidence, garnered through the use of bloodhounds, in a court of law. These dogs were placed on trails in an environment that simulated real-life scenarios. Results indicate that a veteran bloodhound can trail and correctly identify a person under various conditions. These data suggest that the potential error rate of a veteran bloodhound-handler team is low and can be a useful tool for law enforcement personnel.

Keywords:
forensic science, canine, bloodhound, scent, reliability

Paper ID: JFS2002118
DOI: 10.1520/JFS2002118
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