Dogs catch lucky break with job for U.S. Customs

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- The U.S. Customs Service isn't just a job, it's a ticket out of jail. At least it was for Chloe and Flash, two mutts who were pulled out of Springfield animal shelters to train for jobs sniffing out drugs or bombs.

The lucky job applicants were selected by David Bynum, one of four Customs Service officers visiting shelters and pounds around the country in search of dogs to train for jobs at airports or along the U.S-Mexican border.

Ever since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, authorities have been scrambling to beef up security at airports and other spots. That means, Bynum and his colleagues have been busy combing shelters where the Customs Service gets all its dogs.

That was good news for Chloe, a hound-Labrador mix who was living at the Waggin' Tails Shelter, and Flash, a mixed breed with a lot of pit bull in him who was a resident of the Sangamon County Animal Control Center.

"She was a misbehaved young adult," Waggin' Tails operations manager Linda Evoy said of Chloe. "She was beautiful and playful, just a great personality."

'Possessed by the towel'

That is just the kind of dog Bynum was looking for. Energetic, young, curious dogs with strong retrieving instincts are, he said, the easiest to train.

At shelters, walks around bouncing a ball. He's looking to see which dogs fix their eyes on the ball and run up to the fence.

Those that do get a closer look outside, where he sees how they retrieve a rolled-up towel.

"Chloe was just possessed by the towel," he said.

That was important because towels that have absorbed the scent of marijuana are used to train the dogs.

Both dogs did well enough to earn a trip to a shelter in Paris, Ill., where they'll wait for a trip to Fort Royal, Va.. There, they will undergo three months of training.

The good news for the dogs is that no matter what happens there, they're not going back to a shelter. If they successfully complete their training, they'll be photographed wearing their badges before being sent off to start their new careers.