Rats trained to find landmines in Columbia

BOGOTA, Colombia - Watch out Fido, your days on the force may be numbered. Police in Colombia are training Lola and Espejo, two whiskered, red-eyed rats, to sniff out bombs and land mines.ADVERTISEMENTclick here

The rodents are part of an experimental six-rat squadron that police are preparing for dangerous missions to defuse the more than 100,000 land mines that litter Colombia's countryside after four decades of war between the government and leftist rebels.

Unlike dogs, rats weighing less than half a pound each and "don't trigger any explosions when they walk on a mine," said Col. Javier Cifuentes, director of the Sibate police academy, where basic training is taking place.

...it's not "unleash the hounds", its now "unleash the rats"...

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