Dutch Police Recruit Rats To Sniff Out Crime

An anonymous reader writes "Ratting someone out' just became much more literal. Dutch police are using trained rats to help keep the streets clean. 'Detective Derrick and his rat partners cost just £8 each and are capable of being trained to identify an impressive range of odors—including drugs and explosives—within ten to 15 days. In contrast, a police dog costs thousands of pounds and requires a minimum training period of eight months. The training procedure is straightforward: the rats are kept in a cage with four metal tea strainers attached inside, one of which contains gunpowder. When the rat recognizes the smell, it is rewarded with a "click" and a small treat. Eventually the rat will learn to move towards the smell instantly. In a demonstration it takes Derrick just two seconds to locate the offending odor."

Comments

What next the criminals recruit lots of cats?

[mrspoonsi]

I can see an animal arms race there.

Re:What next the criminals recruit lots of cats?

[Cryacin]

I trump you with my miniature giant space hamster.

Re:What next the criminals recruit lots of cats?

[TheP4st]

Likely that would be about as effective with rats as it is with dogs, i.e. not at all. What might work is to use urine from an animal that prey on rats, ferrets in particular come to mind as they are extraordinarily efficient on hunting rodents and therefore it would make sense that rats have an instinctive fear of them.