Get a dog that can do both: New South Jersey K-9 can sniff out electronics, comfort kids

WOODBURY, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — There’s a new K-9 at the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office , and he’s already a busy guy working two jobs.

Most working dogs are either trained to sniff things out or work as therapy dogs. Walt, an 18-month-old German short-haired pointer, does both. Walt is trained to find electronics, including phones, computers, hidden cameras, hard drives, and devices that may contain child pornography.

“We can go out on homicides, fraud cases, sexual assault cases. Anything where digital evidence is going to be important and thought that it’s going to be obfuscated,” said his handler, Det. Dan Farid.

Walt has already helped find electronic evidence investigators missed during search warrants. Farid says he can sniff out the smallest USB drives.

“We’ve been on six search warrants,” said Farid. “The second one, he found a laptop under a bed that investigators missed, and this most recent one last week he found a cellphone and a USB that we had missed.”

Farid says every device has a chemical with a distinctive odor that Walt can pick up almost instantly.

Officials say Walt really knows how to light up a room, and he’s also been spending a lot of time at the county’s Child Advocacy Center , working as a therapy dog for children and young adults who have had traumatic experiences. Acting prosecutor Elizabeth Parvin says he’s a rare breed indeed, as he’s gifted at making kids feel comfortable.

“They come here sometimes for trial preparation and we have, now, K-9 Walt as an asset to them to help with anxiety and getting through that process,” Parvin said.