Stealth Canine: Sniffs out Drugs

In Buzz, July 2016 / August 2016 by Alexandra DrosuLeave a Comment

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Mace has plenty of puppy in him as he trots down the road, chewing on a rubber ball. His ears perk up and he shakes his head back and forth. His owner Kyle Breischaft looks at him and says firmly: Zitten. Mace sits.

Breischaft isn’t Dutch and Mace is no ordinary dog. Born in Slovakia, he is an elite working dog trained to sniff out narcotics, and you can hire him. Breischaft, a retired police detective and entrepreneur, recently launched a new company called Stealth Vigilance that offers drug detection services to private schools, parents who may suspect their child is using drugs, or businesses that want to make sure employees aren’t compromising the safety of others.

“This is confidential; it’s discreet,” he says. “If something is found, the client can decide what they want to do about it.”

Breischaft recently met with a local private school about his service. The school isn’t naïve to the fact that drugs may exist on campus; however, they also want the discretion to decide how to handle students who may be caught in possession of them.

“If they call law enforcement, all of their discretion is gone,” he says, and the matter is taken up by the authorities.

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Breischaft has spent many years in law enforcement and served in the military but the idea to start this business came from a different job—fatherhood.

“I have a teenager,” he says. “I started talking to friends and most of them said they would want to know whether their kids had drugs. Many parents have suspicions but they don’t have a smoking gun.”

This revelation, along with the fact that he had always wanted to work on a canine unit, led him to Mace, who is trained in drug detection and handler protection. Mace joined Breischaft’s family in January and the two have been training together since then.

For $150, parents can hire Mace and Breischaft to sweep their house and determine whether or not their suspicions are founded without their child ever knowing.  For one family, Stealth Vigilance has provided a way to rebuild trust after struggling with their son’s drug use.

“We really wanted to see signs of improvement, but he got so good at lying that there was absolutely no trust,” says the dad. “Our son said he [was] finished with drugs—but he had no credibility—so we didn’t believe him. We were just thinking we couldn’t find them. ”

The family turned to Breischaft to help them “trust but verify.” They were initially concerned about what the neighbors might think but Mace and Breischaft were discreet. After searching the house, Mace found no evidence of drugs in the home.

“If you suspect drugs in your house, having access to the best possible way to know the truth is a real help in the decision making minefield that is being a parent,” says the dad.

In a 2014 study published in the Forensic Science International journal, drug detection dogs (especially German Shepherds, Mace’s breed) showed an effectiveness of 87.7 percent in correct drug indications with marijuana being the easiest to detect and heroin the most difficult. However, some studies geared specifically at police canines have been shown to be less effective.

Since starting the business, Breischaft has also received many queries for bomb detection services, and the recent tragic shooting in Orlando may increase interest in the service. Breischaft has already started considering adding another dog to the team who is trained in this specialty; dogs are trained in either narcotics or explosives.

For more information visit svk9.com

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