Dogs Sniff Out Cancer

Daisy the labrador is hard at work on a project that could change your life and mine.

In her smart red jacket, she wanders around a metal carousel in a small centre outside Milton Keynes, sniffing at the different scents that are attached to its 12 spokes. Then she stops.

She’s found what she’s looking for and looks expectantly up at her handler — she knows that when she recognises this specific smell, she will soon get an edible reward.

While Daisy enjoys the process (and her dog biscuits) her actions are more than just a game — they have huge implications for all of us.

Because what this seven-year-old dog is sniffing is a selection of samples from a local hospital. And she has just located the only one that came from a cancer patient.

Daisy, quite simply, is being taught to sniff out cancer. She is one of the world’s first bio-detection dogs — trained animals that may one day revolutionise medical diagnosis.

We all know that dogs have far more powerful noses than humans — indeed their sense of smell is up to 100,000 times better than ours.

NOTE: Why is it that scientists are always the last to know? As a rescue,having worked with hundreds of dogs, dogs can detect seizures, cancer, headaches and other disorders and pains. Most can easily do it without training.