Quote Originally Posted by Todd Ruger, Tampa Bay Online
The narcotics-sniffing dog Zuul smells drugs on almost every car he checks.

But that does not necessarily mean there are drugs on board.

Half of the time, when deputies use Zuul's nose for probable cause to search a car, they do not find drugs.

Now the sniffing abilities of dogs such as Zuul are becoming a focus of drug cases in Sarasota. Defense attorneys say the dogs are not accurate enough at finding drug caches to justify police searches.

Challenging those searches is the best way to beat a drug possession or drug trafficking charge. If defense attorneys can show a dog has a spotty track record, they can have the evidence against their clients thrown out of court.

"I don't think any of the dogs the Sarasota sheriff's office uses are qualified to detect drugs to get probable cause for searches," Assistant Public Defender Mark Adams said.

Officers can call for a dog to sniff any vehicle they stop for a traffic infraction.

There are currently two sheriff's office dogs assigned to the Newtown area and six dogs on general patrol.

A dog makes two passes around the car, and if it alerts the officer that there are drugs, officers can search the car.

The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office trains all its dogs, which are purchased from breeders in Hungary. Then they are certified through the National Police Canine Association, completing a test by finding drugs hidden in two locations on four cars.

Prosecutors and deputies say there is always a reason for Zuul to indicate there are drugs. In each case, either drugs were found, or people riding in the car admitted to using or possessing illegal drugs in the recent past.

But residual drug detection does not count in court.

Judges have ruled that when dogs smell drugs but nothing is found in the search, it means the dog was wrong.

Essentially, it counts as a loss in the dog's track record.

Circuit Judge Debra Johnes Riva said in a ruling that she had no choice but to throw out evidence in a drug case because...
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