No comment, just the facts

[hermetic]

(Reuters) - A Canadian couple has launched a business offering worried parents or concerned employers private drug-detection services that will search homes and offices for everything from marijuana to heroin. Russ Rathy of Pense, Saskatchewan, started the home-based business, Crusader Resources, along with his wife, after buying a young German shepherd trained to sniff out drugs.

The dog, named Alis Vicona, cost C$20,000 ($16,000) and can detect drugs or the residue of drugs in buildings or on clothing, even after 30 days. "If you suspect your kids of drug use, this is one way to make sure there's no drugs in the house," Russ Rathy, 39, told Reuters from his home near the western province's capital of Regina.

"Obviously it gives you a little more leeway rather than waiting for them to become an addict and put them in rehabilitation -- or being picked up by the police and now they have a criminal record and their future is pretty much shot with that."

Once the dog detects drugs, Rathy said it is up to the client to decide what the consequences should be. "Whether they contact police or flush it down the toilet, it's left up to them," he said. "We'll obviously make recommendations to call authorities."

Rathy, who says they started the business more out of parental concerns than a bid to make money, charges only C$20 ($16) for the search of a private home or vehicle. For businesses it costs a bit more, depending on the frequency of searches and the length of the contract. He uses a portion of the business income to fund free drug awareness presentations at schools and non-profit organizations.

[Lautremont]

1. What a fucking creepshow!

They started the business 'out of parental concerns' and then proceed to 'make recommendations to call authorities.'

Why don't these junior fascists move to America and report on their neighbors there?

(Not that you guys don't have enough of that.)

[iverglas]

2. to be fair

They started the business 'out of parental concerns' and then proceed to 'make recommendations to call authorities.'

They're making those recommendations to their customers, the parents/employer -- and I imagine that the recommendation in question applies mainly to the employer situation. What they're saying is that they themselves don't do anything with whatever information they have as a result of the sniff searches -- they don't go informing to any third party about what they find; they leave it up to the customer. I think they're saying they make the "recommendation" so that it doesn't look as if they're providing a service to conceal criminal acts from the police or something. Hey, we recommend you call the authorites, but you do what you like. They are specifically *not* going to "report on their neighbors". (That's neighbours!)

They've apparently found a niche in the market to make a living without doing anything especially distasteful. Parents and employers really are entitled to know, and control, what goes on in their premises. Parents have been evicted from housing, for instance, because of their kids' drug dealing.

[Lautremont]

3. In the States, where I suggested they go, they'd be neighbors.

But you make some good points. And yet, I can't quite believe that they're going to be as laissez-faire as they claim. They sound like crusaders to me. All it would take to score some heavenly, self-righteous points is an anonymous phone call.

Are they bonded? Are they licensed in any way? I confess I can't remember if the article said they were. It's very nice to own a sniff dog, but I certainly wouldn't trust a couple of schmoes like that with potentially blackmailable info.