Emre Ertan & "Dusty"

Dusty - First operational trained dog in the detection of flammable liquids in Switzerland

In March 2005, after a period of intensive training at Clive’s in Sutton Coldfield Birmingham, where Emre and Dusty bonded naturally, they drove back to Switzerland to start their new life together.

Dusty is a male Springer Spaniel, born in 2001. He joined Emre ERTAN, Forensic Scientist who specializes in fire investigation at the Neuchâtel state police force in April 2005. Dusty turned out to be Switzerland’s first operational fire investigation dog.

During the last year (or 2005/2006) Dusty attended 36 fire scenes where his skill as a detection tool was requested by fire scene investigators. In the 36 investigations, Dusty pinpointed 39 areas from which 36 samples were collected. These samples were analysed by scientific instruments in the laboratory, performed by the Forensic Science School at the University of Lausanne. Subsequently 30 of Dusty’s samples were confirmed to be flammable.

Since July 2006 three other dogs have been trained in the detection of inflammable liquids, thus building a team of four fire investigation dogs in the territory of Switzerland, which has a population of 7,300,000 inhabitants covering a surface area of 41,285 km2.