Nature
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There are good dogs, very good dogs, and dogs so very good that they get a bounty put on their head by Clan del Golfo, the largest drug cartel in Colombia.
German Shepherds, which were first bred in Germany at the end of the 19th Century, don't have the best noses of the dog world. In fact, studies have found their smelling abilities are outperformed by pugs. But given that no pug could ever subdue a criminal, the smaller dogs are seldom chosen for police work.
German Shepherds, meanwhile, are selected to work with the police globally because they are all-rounders.
"German Shepherds are renowned for their intelligence and eagerness to learn. This makes them incredibly trainable, a crucial aspect for police work," the US Dog Trainer College explains.
"In police dog training, dogs must learn a variety of skills, from obedience to specific tasks like tracking or detecting substances. German Shepherds’ ability to quickly understand and respond to commands makes them ideal candidates for this rigorous training."
While not keeping up with pugs or bloodhounds in the nose department, German Shepherds also have a keen sense of smell, enough to earn them the task of sniffing out drugs and explosives. But one dog named Sombra – meaning shadow – in Colombia was such a proficient sniffer she netted herself a $7,000 bounty.
“Her sense of smell is far beyond that of other dogs,” Sombra's handler, officer José Rojas, explained to The Guardian in 2018.
Sombra was involved in a number of large drug busts during her career, including finding nearly 3 tonnes of Clan del Golfo cocaine stored inside crates of bananas, ahead of transportation to Europe.
According to the Colombian police, she was involved in over 245 drug-related arrests at Colombia's international airports. When deployed in the coastal town of Turbo, from which cocaine is sometimes shipped via speedboat, she sniffed out a further 4.5 tonnes of cocaine.
It isn't that unusual for cartels to put out bounties on the heads of people who interfere with their interests, but it is a little out of the ordinary for them to place a hit on a dog.
The hit forced the police to relocate Sombra away from her usual duties and move her to Bogotá's El Dorado International Airport in 2018. That said, she continued to work as a drug-sniffing dog at the airport, with extra officers guarding her, rather than switching to the check-in counter.
At the time, Sombra was expected to work for another two years before being able to retire.
