Dogs trained to sniff out COVID in schools are getting a lot of love for their efforts
FREETOWN, Mass. — Since last fall, Huntah the dog, a not-quite-two-year-old black lab, has been sweeping classrooms and common areas at Freetown Elementary School nearly every week in search of ... COVID.
One afternoon in early June, she sniffs around a first-grade classroom while the kids work at their various math stations. She smells the garbage can, desks, students' book bags and other surfaces. Although the risk of transmission of the virus on surfaces is low, it's not zero.
"So, if the dog indicates on COVID," explains Capt. Paul Douglas, who handles Huntah and runs the K-9 Unit of Bristol County Sheriff's Office, "the dog will sit."
If that happens, Douglas alerts the school administrator to evacuate students from the infected area and spray it down with decontaminant before allowing the students to return.
Huntah is part of a
