The Transportation Security Administration announced that it will be enlisting the help of more bomb-sniffing dogs with floppy, appealing ears as opposed to those with more pointy, intimidating ears.
The initiative is the TSA‘s way of trying to put airline passengers at ease while moving through American airports, the travel blog The Points Guy reported.
The agency is making a “conscious effort” to deploy more droopy-eared pups because they’re less frightening to customers, TSA Administrator David Pekoske revealed at a recent visit to Dulles Airport in Washington D.C.
“We find the passenger acceptance of floppy-ear dogs is just better,” Pekoske told the Washington Examiner. “It presents just a little bit less of a concern. Doesn’t scare children.”
Out of the 1,200 TSA-employed dogs, 80% of them are of the floppy variety — like Labrador Retrievers, German Shorthaired Pointers, Wirehaired Pointers, Vizslas and Golden Retrievers.
German Shepherd and Belgian Malinois breeds account for 20% of the pointy-eared counterparts. At least one RealClearLife editor is relieved to know canines that are intimidating to potential would-be bombers are still on-the-job.
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