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Bomb-Detecting Dogs Get A Whiff Of Super Bowl Site

Tribune photo by MICHAEL SPOONEYBARGER

ATF special agent Kent Slay with his k-9 "Sunshine" searches vehicles Wednesday at Raymond James Stadium as training for the Super Bowl.

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By VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 15, 2008

TAMPA - Cheeto, a 4-year-old mix of German shepherd and Belgian Malinois, was unfazed by the green grassy field and shiny red seats of Raymond James Stadium.

His focus was a blue Ford Taurus parked outside for a training exercise. The dog sniffed around the front bumper, side doors and wheels, and then pawed the trunk and sat to signal he'd found something: the detonator cord planted inside by trainers.

"Good boy!" said his partner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer Melanie Mataxas. She rewarded Cheeto with his favorite toy, a rolled up white washcloth. "You're so smart. Good nose!"

To prepare for the Super Bowl, which will be played at the stadium Feb. 1, canine officers from the Tampa Police Department and Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office invited dog teams from the customs agency and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to train with them today.

Bomb-detecting dogs from the police and the sheriff's office sweep through the stadium before every home game played by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and University of South Florida. At the Super Bowl, about 30 to 40 dogs will search incoming vehicles, sweep through the stadium and inspect media vehicles, officials said. Today's exercises involved sniffing out explosive items trainers placed in cars, bags, rows of seats and suites overlooking the field.

"It's good to know who you're working with," said Mataxas, who is based at the Port of Savannah in Georgia but is one of four dog teams from the customs agency who will work at the Super Bowl.

Tampa police Cpl. Tom Hevel said the other teams are invited to train with police and the sheriff's office before the Super Bowl as often as their schedules allow. It helps to get the dogs used to the environment, he said.

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800.

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