Meet The Dogs That Hunt Superbugs In A Canadian Hospital

It is very common to see that pets help people during the treatment of some illness in different parts of the world. They help not only as therapeutic companions, but also discover some illnesses. In this article, we tell the story of two puppies that hunt superbugs in a Canadian hospital. 

Angus and Dodger, the bacteria guns

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Perhaps you have seen animals in a hospital accompanying sick people (especially children with terminal illnesses). Despite that, this story will surprise you. These are two Springer Spaniel dogs that use their abilities as hunting dogs to detect a “superbug” called Clostridium Difficile .

This microorganism attacks people with a weakened immune system (very common in hospitals) and causes infectious diarrhea that can lead to death. For months, the two dogs were trained to identify the bacteria “simply by smell.”

Angus, two years old, has been working for a while at this hospital, where he has detected the superbug Clostridium Difficile several times and in different places. One of the most curious was on the pants of a patient who had been admitted with diarrhea and the doctors were about to discharge him.

Shortly thereafter, Dodger joined the team. Currently, the two are responsible for detecting the existence of the superbug in the hospital.

How can you identify these superbugs?

How did you know the dog could identify this germ? Everything happened by chance. A young woman from Vancouver (Canada), named Teresa Zurberg, suffered an infection by this bacterium, having to stay in hospital for five days, losing 9kg in a week.

Her husband, a patient who was recovering at the institution, said he had read an article that reported on a Beagle dog that had been trained in the Netherlands to detect the superbug that had affected the woman.

Teresa is a trainer of dogs that identify explosives and drugs and thought of doing the same with the superbug  Clostridium Difficile . She presented the idea to health authorities and was authorized to make a pilot plan. The first two dogs passed the test without any restrictions.

According to investigations, this bacteria is a very common problem in hospitals around the world and causes a “vicious circle”, as patients must stay longer in hospital, increasing the risk of contracting more infections.

This superbug lives in the faeces and can remain in the environment even after cleaning. Hospital staff can spread this germ through clothing and shoes. Normally, ultraviolet light is used to find these microbes. However, Angus and Dodger dogs do this much faster.

After 10 months of training, the dogs were able to work to identify this bacteria that can cause the death of infected patients. This project has expanded to other countries, such as Chile and Finland. The breeder wants to train dogs from all over the world to be sent to the most important hospitals.

The benefits of dogs in the hospital

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Going further than the previous story, thousands of dogs work in clinics, hospitals and rehabilitation centers and are more than welcome. The first establishment that allowed a pet to enter a medical room was the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, located in Esplugues de Llobregat, in Barcelona (Spain).

This was the motivation for other centers to copy the initiative, obtaining surprising results. Some areas are prohibited: ICU (Intensive Care Unit), operating and delivery rooms. The other places are free territory for the animals, as long as they are accompanied by a hospital professional.

Dogs improve the well-being of hospitalized children, those who are terminally ill or those who are under heavy treatment. Dogs help by distracting patients and relieving the stress of a painful intervention or procedure.

In some cases, they allow you to regain mobility after trauma surgery or establish very strong bonds with autistic children.

In order to work at the hospital, dogs must be registered as “assistance”. They have been trained for a certain purpose and the risk of transmitting diseases to people is very low. Protocols certify that the animal is healthy and, of course, clean. The most used breeds in medical centers are Labrador and Golden Retriever, due to their high degree of sociability.

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