Matched Up
WARNING: The following story deals with subject matter that some readers may find disturbing. Discretion is advised.
Arson Detection K9 Hansel (Erik Larson/Larson Images)
Est. Read Time: 8 Mins.
The Ring:
A circle of people forms ahead as a cloud of cigarette smoke hangs absentmindedly above a dimly lit lightbulb. Trapped within the confines of this dank and dingy basement is the smell of stale beer and sweat.
What are they watching?
You look to your right and notice a weapons cache sprawled out along the wall. Illegal drugs are stacked high beside several counting machines. A lot of money has already changed hands tonight, but nothing compares to what is about to happen next. The anticipation is palpable amongst the spectators, all salivating for the main event to begin.
You slowly push your way through the horde of people when your pulse stops dead.
Standing inside the ring are two menacing dogs, snarling and barking at each other, one of which is already badly injured. It looks like she has just given birth to a litter of puppies, her stomach is bloated, and her nipples are enlarged.
The volume rises within the cellar as the barking intensifies. The mob has now reached a fever pitch. Their eyes are manic, their souls as dark as the blood-soaked dirt beneath the combatant’s paws.
10 seconds to battle…
Everyone is now yelling.
5 seconds…
Louder still.
3. 2. 1…
A sinister roar erupts as a sharp toned bell cuts through the shouting.
Lost amongst the commotion, faint whining can be heard behind another closed door in an adjacent room. Inside are several caged and malnourished puppies, no older than 7 weeks old, destined for the same fate as their mother.
There is a special place in hell for people who choose to abuse animals in this way.
It is only fitting that one of those puppies, born in the flames of hatred would become a force for good to help extinguish it.
The Fire
“Domestic Dispute Turned Violent – Suspect Burns Down Own Garage and Starts Forest Fire”. Firefighter Tyler Van Leer of the Millville Fire Department in New Jersey reads the report as his partner waits patiently beside him.
This case is a classic example of the most widely suspected arson scenario. An argument between spouses had arisen and tempers flared to a point where one suspect destroyed property out of spite for the other.
As far as arsons go, this was a cut and dry case for the department; however, anyone who has ever watched an episode of Forensic Files knows that without physical evidence, it’s a challenge to file charges against a suspect.
Thankfully, this fire department has a secret weapon, the first of its kind throughout the USA.
Built like a small fire hydrant himself is Hansel, a 4-year old beefy dog. His face is wide, and his jaw is strong. He’s mostly tan except for distinct white markings that run completely parallel down the tip of his forehead to the front of his paws. He’s not your typical working dog though. In fact, he’s the one breed that has been associated with crime for an extremely long time. You’ve been told to fear them. You’ve been told they are dangerous. You’ve been told that they can’t coexist in a civilized society, that they must be exterminated.
Hansel has been called all these things and more.
For Hansel is, through and through, the definition of a Pitbull.
Rescued from a dog fighting ring in Ontario, Canada, at only 7 weeks old, even at his young age Hansel was deemed a menace to society. He underwent evaluations and was labelled unfit for rehabilitation. The only option provided to solve this problem was euthanasia and Hansel, along with 21 other dogs were scheduled to be put down before they could terrorize the public.
What was the point of rescuing them just to see them die?
Somewhere along the line, the media caught hold of this story and many people felt the same way. This resulted in a petition being launched by Dog Tales Rescue & Sanctuary to #SaveThe21. People from all over the world, including notable celebs like Paris Hilton, Richard Branson, and Enrique Iglesias even highlighted the campaign.
Eventually, after nearly 2 years of legal battles, the dogs were successfully relocated from Canada to the USA. Out of the 21 dogs rescued, a non-profit organization called Throw Away Dogs Project took in 5 of them. Their end goal? To train them to become working dogs for their communities at no extra cost, a true force for good.
If they could be trained to fight each other, what was stopping them from being trained to fight crime?
Hansel was one of these dogs that exhibited an internal drive to succeed.
Carol Skaziak - Founder of Throw Away Dogs Project, Fire Fighter Tyler Van Leer, and Hansel at the start of training in 2018 (Erik Larson/Larson Images)
It took over a year and countless hours of training before Hansel was paired up with his handler for a 16-week K9 Academy where he would learn to become an arson detection dog.
Now, imprinted on 14 different types of accelerants, Hansel can pinpoint with extreme accuracy the exact location where an accelerant is used to start a fire and the container in which the accelerant was potentially stored in. This greatly speeds up the search process for investigators, creating a roadmap to lead them directly to areas where samples can then be taken for evaluation in a fraction of time that using other traditional arson detection methods would allow.
Now, standing on the precipice of the smoldering building, Hansel and Van Leer were about to take a dive into recovering as much evidence as possible. This specific blaze was so powerful that the structure was burnt completely down to the foundation.
Hansel and his handler scanned the area from top to bottom, but everything inside was completely devoid of color. Methodically, the team proceeded.
Hansel gets to work and within minutes, he locates the area where the fire originated. The intense heat produced from the flame moves away from the source like a V-shaped char pattern, easily recognizable once given the starting point.
With the origin nailed down, Hansel begins to look for the next, more difficult component to find – the container used to start the fire.
In Policing, detectives search for a murder weapon – the one thing that links the suspect to the crime. For Arson Investigations, this concept is no different. If the source of the ignition device is found, it gives the best indication if a fire was set accidently or on purpose.
The Smoking Gun if you will.
Hansel and Van Leer methodically continue their search when they encounter a crumbled pile of charred lumber. It is too heavy and mangled to safely remove from their path without machinery. If they could only get to the other side, they could search this final area and get out of this scorched sarcophagus.
With determination, Hansel takes a step back and loads his muscular legs. He charges with full force and leaps over the lumber pile when suddenly…
*SCREEEEEEEEE*
A shiver runs down Van Leer’s spine. As if dirty jagged nails are being dragged across a chalk board, this piercing sound reverberates in-between his temples, and his tongue tingles. What happened?
Cautiously, he moves toward the pile of burnt lumber. Every piece is jet black and covered in ashy soot reminiscent of a campfire. He moves closer, his eyes recreating Hansel’s footsteps then suddenly they dilate.
Hidden amongst the dirt and debris is a single square-head rusty nail, pointing straight out of the twisted and torched lumber angled directly over Hansel’s launch point. Impossible to see in the fire-burned mess, contact with his underbelly was unavoidable.
Van Leer locates Hansel and notices that he is doubled-over. Preparing himself for the worst, he crosses over to the pile, carefully avoiding the protruding nail, and makes his way toward Hansel when the situation becomes clear.
Hansel is indicating toward a badly damaged, badly cracked mason jar – the source of the accelerant.
Tail wagging and tongue out, Hansel tilts his head up to peer at Van Leer. Their work here is done, they got what they came for, and now it is time to get out.
With the search complete and safely away from the structure, Van Leer immediately checks Hansel over for damage.
Spine? Ok.
Sides? Ok.
Underbelly?
There, dead center at the bottom of his custom fit K9 Storm SAR Vest is a corroded black line, imprinted down the coyote tan underbelly panel of his vest, all the way from his heart to his liver.
He takes a moment and stairs at it in disbelief.
The Aftermath
With Hansel’s help, charges were filed against the suspect for 3rd degree arson. It’s now the second official charge of arson that Hansel has directly made an impact on, but it all could have ended much differently.
When you picture a dog being saved from an attack, the environment is not the first enemy you think of.
Underbelly protection is one of, if not, the most overlooked aspect of safety for working dogs. Their chest is the lowest point to the ground and most likely to hit something unexpectedly. For police work, when dogs jump, their belly is the first part of their body to land on a potentially sharp fence line or be exposed to a suspect during an apprehension.
I spoke with Hansel’s handler, and he explained that Hansel works in his SAR Vest for every deployment. His vest was generously donated by Spike’s K9 Fund in partnership with Throw Away Dogs Project to help keep Hansel safe no matter what.
Twice saved, first from execution and now from impalement, it’s becoming increasing clear that the assessment of Hansel as a puppy was correct.
He was simply born to fight.
Underbelly protection is critical to working dog safety. In Hansel’s case, it was the potential difference between life and death. (Erik Larson/Larson Images)