Bloodhounds

[Slimsid2000]

Apparently there was a plan to bring in a couple of bloodhounds after the murder of Mary kelly, but for some reason this never happened. Was this a missed opportunity to catch the Ripper? Could the dogs have lead police right to his door?

[mpriestnall]

Plan or pantomime?

[Fleetwood Mac]

MSU's bloodhound helps solve murder (montana.edu)

When Montana State University Campus Police Sgt. Tamie Parrent arrived at the scene of a murder last month in Billings, the trail of the suspect was cold -- 60 hours cold. Yet with three-year-old Sarge, MSU's bloodhound, Parrent and pooch were able to help police track the suspect.

Sarge trailed the scent for more than a mile through a Billings residential area. Sarge found the trail's end at the door of the house where the suspect had earlier been located and arrested.

I think the article is suggesting that Sarge (the dog) was given the scent of the suspect to follow, however.

On the other hand:

Sarge has always pleased me. He helped track a jailbreak, a bank robber, a Peeping Tom and an ice cream store robber.

[erobitha]

My understanding is that the dogs were called for, and the police waited before entering the property at Miller's Court. However, it required sign-off from the now-resigned Charles Warren, and it caused confusion in the ranks as to what to do. Also, the dogs were held some distance away.

In the end, the police at the scene got tired of waiting and entered the property. Would the hounds have helped? Who knows, they hadn't up to that point.

[Sam Flynn]

My father was an experienced and well-respected police dog-handler and trainer, and I've actually asked him about this. His view was that the filthy, crowded conditions of Victorian slum streets would have made it almost impossible for tracker dogs to follow a scent for any useful distance.

[c.d.]

Plus, wouldn't they have needed an article of clothing or something that belonged to the Ripper to follow his scent? What would they have used to track his scent?

c.d.

[JeffHamm]

I know this is an older thread, but was just watching a true crime show about an abduction/murder in Alaska. Around the 20 minute mark, and again around the 40-43 minute mark (there abouts), they talk about using bloodhounds (well, scent dogs, the footage looks like a bloodhound though). Anyway, what was interesting is that they obtained the offender's scent using a sort of "vacuum" on the victim's vehicle (the offender drove her car, so they apparently could vacuum his scent off the steering wheel and driver's seat).

Then, using that obtained scent, the dogs were able to track the offender over about 3 miles (from an ATM machine back to his residence, and to the victim's house, type thing. And at the time they did the tracking, weeks had gone by! This seems pretty incredible, and to be honest, I'm a bit sceptical (earlier in the episode, it sounded like the offender was on a bicycle at the ATM, so his scent trail would have ended at the point he gets back on his bike). Also, given weeks had past, the scent trail should get very confused near his residence, given he would be leaving trails every time he comes and goes. Also, and this probably reflects my ignorance, how do our shoes leave our scent? Shouldn't our shoes leave "shoe scent"? It might make sense if he was barefoot, given the scent from the stearing wheel and car seat should reflect him (sweat, etc), but the soles of our shoes aren't exactly places we touch. Maybe our feet sweat enough that our scent soaks through our footwear that much?

Anyway, I'm digressing. I just thought this was very interesting, even if I have some questions (questions because I recognize my ignorance and just would like to know).

With respect to JtR, I think given the above there would be a good chance the dogs could track the scent. But, and there's always a but, to do so would require access to something that contained the offender's scent (as per c.d.'s post above), and if the police had something they were confident might have been the offender's, they held that back from the press, and it is now lost to us. Without a "target scent", it's like getting the fingerprint when you interview someone, but don't have a fingerprint at the crime scene. Yes, the offender smells, but you need to find his smell at the crime scene in order to track him from there.

Just thought I would share this, as maybe the dogs would have a better chance than perhaps is generally accepted, provided the police did have a n item with the target scent of course.

- Jeff