Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut is the only passenger and cargo airport in Lebanon. Therefore, it is always crowded with people wanting to visit this Middle Eastern country.
Thousands of people pass through the terminals of this airport every day and a huge amount of cargo and various luggage is transported to all sides of the world. With such cargo and passenger traffic, security is of paramount importance.
That’s why there are many police officers keeping an eye on safety and order. But there is another inconspicuous and little-known law enforcement officers – search dogs that have received special training. They help detect suspicious packages or luggage containing prohibited items. These can be narcotic or explosive substances or even large sums of money.
These dogs are trained to pick up the right odor and “report” it to the dog handler without barking or making noise. When the dogs find something, they point their nose and gaze at the suspicious object while remaining motionless. The kinologist accompanying the dog notices changes in the animal’s behavior and arranges to check the detected luggage. The system is simple but time-tested and works almost without error.
Strange discovery
When one such dog walked through the airport building, no one paid any attention to him, realizing perfectly well that the pet was on duty. And no matter how much one wanted to pet and caress the good-natured animal, it was strictly forbidden to do so in order not to disturb him and the police. That’s why people passing by could only smile at the kinologist accompanying the dog.
Suddenly, in the cargo terminal, the dog pointed his muzzle at one of the crates passing through the terminal. The label listed the point of origin as Kazakhstan. The parcel had arrived a few days ago and was waiting to be sent on its onward route.
The dog froze, silently staring at the box. There was no doubt in the policeman’s mind that something illegal was in the box.
The search dog seldom makes mistakes, in the officer’s practice there had never been such a case that it mistakenly singled out any passenger or cargo.
The cynologist commanded and allowed the dog to come closer. But she suddenly jumped on the crate, which was quite large.
It was similar to other crates and boxes arriving at the airport, so visually suspicion was not aroused. The only difference the policeman noticed upon very close inspection was a few small holes around the perimeter.
The dog could not contain his excitement, was moving and whimpered a little, looking at his owner. It became clear – inside the box is something that attracted the dog’s attention more than illegal substances or large sums of money. The cynologist began to think over his further actions and prepare for inspection.
What’s inside?
Around the box already gathered other airport workers. They carefully lifted it from the floor and carefully carried it to the table for inspection. Everyone was well aware that there could be explosives inside, so they acted with extreme caution. Any careless movement could lead to unfortunate consequences.
Before any further action was taken, a bomb squad was called in to scan the contents. Of course, the probability of finding explosives was small, because the box had been at the airport for quite a long time and had been checked more than once. But no one wanted to take any risks.
All those present left the room and waited for the bomb squad to finish its inspection. Only the search dog kept rushing back to the box, which was very strange for such a trained dog. The cynologist had never noticed such behavior of his pet before, and they had worked together for many years.
The strange behavior of the service dog awakened in the officer various concerns and assumptions – what is so special is in this luggage.
While the bomb squad was scanning and checking the box, the police officers discussed their further actions. It was decided to open it slowly and carefully. When this was done and those present were able to look inside, there was no limit to their surprise.
These officers with long life experience had seen a lot of things: money, drugs, explosives, contraband of all kinds and sizes. But never like this!
Little Prisoners
Inside the box were…
…two little tiger cubs. They were hiding in the sawdust and looked extremely emaciated and weak. It was obvious that they were exhausted and had been in the box for a long time. No wonder the dog was so eager to get to them.
The babies were very frightened by the bright lights, the noise around them and the many people searching the dirty box. No one could guess how long they had been here. But it was clear that it had been a very long time, several days without food or water.
Their feces were everywhere, the sawdust was soaked with urine, worms and insects were crawling on the walls. It’s amazing that no one had noticed this stinking box before, because the odor when it was opened was horrible.
The animal protection service was immediately called. Its representatives took the tiger cubs and placed them in a special shelter. There they were given the necessary medical care.
At first it seemed that the animals would not survive after such traumatic events. The fact that they remained alive in that crate at all seemed like a miracle. The tiger cubs were named Tobby and Sophie, a boy and a girl. They were left to live at the shelter, they deserved to be cared for and treated. Fortunately, they were not separated, they were left together.
As for their origin, the police found that they were sold from a zoo in Kazakhstan and were part of a litter of 5 kittens. It is good that the fate of these two was resolved safely. And what became of their brothers and sisters is unknown, because they were probably sent to other addresses. The zoo director was arrested and sentenced to a long prison term.
Unfortunately, this kind of animal smuggling is still practiced today, in conditions that are completely unsafe and unhealthy for the poor animals.
This is what happened thanks to a search dog, who did his job well and rescued two little tiger cubs.