Dog Flunks Police School, Saves Avalanche Victims Instead

March 29, 2001 Park City, Utah, USA

They say Einstein failed elementary school; Ludwig Van Beethoven never got a proper musical education; and now, Midas the dog flunks police school.

Yes, it's true: the 2-and-a-half-year-old German Shepherd was rejected by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police because he failed the aggressiveness test; i.e., he wouldn't bite people.

But his instructors at the RCMP recognized the talents and intelligence of this precocious pup in all other respects, and they thought it would be a waste if he were to spend the rest of his days as an ordinary house dog.

And so, with a few noteworthy letters of recommendation,  Midas embarked on a new career path and ended up at the famous Snowbird Ski Resort in Utah, USA.

These days, when Midas is not frolicking about and chewing chunks of snow, he and his handler Dean Cardinale can be found on the mountain top practicing and preparing and honing their skills at sniffing out avalanche victims.

It's not just Midas, either.  The rescue team trains and employs a number of specialized dogs in the same capacity.  Midas, Cinder and Ivory are among the dedicated, four-legged lifesavers, highly trained and accurate.

One dog can do the work of 400 people.  "To a dog, one person is the equivalent of a teenage boy's sock drawer," reports Doug Robinson of the Deseret News who recently had an exclusive interview with Midas.

An avalanche victim usually has about 15 minutes to survive buried under the snow.  In a training drill last week, trainers buried a shirt in 400 sq. ft. of snow.  Midas found it in just over one minute.  They buried two "victims", and Midas found them in less than five.

He can detect an article of clothing at 75 feet, a person at 100 feet, and he can smell as deep as 10 feet under the snow.  Happy with his new line of work, it seems that Midas and the perfect job have met each other.

Which is cool, because he never wanted to be a beat cop anyway.

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