St. Petersburg Times (www.tampabay.com)
In print: Friday, April 18, 2008
Today, dogs are more than just pets. They're saving
our lives — finding bombs and drugs, working as
companion animals for the disabled, locating disaster
victims, even alerting us to our own seizures and cancers.
Dogs are even aiding people with serious food and environmental
sensitivities. In Miami, trained dogs find mold problems
in homes, hotels and businesses. In Safety Harbor, Bedbug
Dogs offers a detection service for homes, hotels and
timeshares.
And in April, one of the newest types of aid dogs will
debut in Tampa: Peanut-sniffing dogs.
Sharon Perry, a trainer with Peanut Detector Dogs in
Florence, Texas, will be in town Monday to give a presentation,
hosted by the Food Allergy Support Group of Tampa, for
families of children with peanut allergy.
Peanut allergy is among the most severe of allergies,
affecting 3 million Americans. Up to 150 people die
of peanut allergy in the United States each year.
Perry's dogs are trained in peanut detection, and are
obedient to boot. Among other things, the dogs are trained
to "greet guests … and discreetly scan them
for peanut residue in order to minimize the chance of
contamination," says Perry's Web site.
Go
nuts:
Is your child allergic to peanuts? For info on Sharon
Perry's seminar on allergen-sniffing dogs, contact
Danielle Post of the Food Allergy Group of Tampa
at dkwmajor@hotmail.com.
