COMMUNITY: Cardiac Support Group

On Friday, September 2, the group's excellent and eloquent speaker was Nicola Crawford talking about Medical Detection Dogs. Some members knew little or nothing about the subject, merely being aware of dogs using their sense of smell to detect drugs etc. Nicola works for the virtually new charity, founded in 2008, to which no government funding is given. Using visual aids the group were introduced to some of the dogs literally saving lives and keeping their owners safe. A good example of this is the ability to detect blood sugar levels in many type one diabetics, many of them children. No dogs are kept in kennels and often the family pet is capable of the careful and essential training. Gun-dogs and similar make excellent detection dogs. The training comes at a cost of course, and donations are welcome. Many such animals are used for the detection of explosives, accelerants, poisons, needles, and, would you believe, bees, and even money. Apparently, differing currencies have differing scents. Smugglers beware. Cancer patients have been thankful for the detection of early cancer. Perhaps, in time, all hospitals will benefit. As with guide and hearing dogs, we can only marvel at the time, patience and skill of the trainers. The