‘Porn Dog’ Is The Latest Addition To Utah's Police Force

The Weber County Sheriff's Office in Ogden, Utah, announced Tuesday the addition of a new member to its staff, an electronic detection K-9 or “porn dog” named URL. He is the first of his kind in the state.

One of only nine certified ED K-9s in the country, the 16-month-old black Labrador is specially trained to sniff out electronic storage devices such as thumb drives, cellphones, SIM cards, SD cards, external hard drives, tablets and iPads. URL offers a unique set of skills to aid investigators in fighting crime, according to the department.

“Whether it’s child porn, terrorism intelligence, narcotics or financial crimes information, URL has the ability to find evidence hidden on basically any electronic memory device,” the department said in a post on Facebook.

To address skepticism regarding URL’s prowess, the department mentioned that he does not actually search for illegal materials, but uses his highly sensitive nose that has been trained to detect the unique chemical compounds found in certain electronic components.

Rescued from a shelter when he was a puppy, URL went through six months of training in Indiana before being certified. He comes from the same trainer as Bear, the K-9 who played a key role in the arrest of ex-Subway spokesman Jared Fogle on counts of distributing child porn as well as traveling across state lines to have sex with underage girls last year.

The Weber Metro Narcotics Strike Force funded URL’s acquisition and he and his handler, detective Cam Hartman, will have to be re-certified each year.