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With yesterday's attacks, a lot of people on tv are tossing around ideas on how to prevent this from happening again. Here's mine-
Considering how much money we are spending on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the economic and emotional cost of another attack like this, and considering
the upkeep cost of an underground station, it can't be significantly more expensive to have a bomb-sniffing dog at each station.
The dog could stand at the entrance as a mascot to greet everyone as they come into the station. The dog could be a source of pride for the neighborhood. Perhaps some of its cost could even be offset by selling t-shirts or something...
This one is from Slough - not sure if it is still there
http://www.railfane.../misc/g-woof-jp.jpg
Dating back to the 1890's [AbsintheWithoutLeave, Jul 08 2005]
Beagles for London
http://news.bbc.co....agazine/4676233.stm
Are they going to bake this???!!! [Minimal, Jul 14 2005]
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put him/her at the bottom of the escalator. |
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I think you'd need a few more than one at the busier stations, which would then undermine the "mascot" aspect. |
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//a community of meerkats in-station// |
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That's quite possibly the funniest thing I've read all week. |
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The Southern Railway used to have rescued strays on the platforms with little collection boxes strapped to their backs for the railwaymens' benevolent fund (or similar). Sometimes, after death, they were stuffed and put in glass cases on the platforms, still with their collection boxes. I know that one of these was still on one of Wimbledon station's platforms into the 1980's. I'll see if I can find a link [+] |
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A great idea! Affordable, practical, useful and cute - all at once. I will send this in to TfL (Transport for London) and see what they think. |
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all that panting might cool the system down too. |
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I'd be worried that in the absence of any platformly trees, Rover might try to spraint the commuters' legs. |
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Absinthe, the Bluebell Railway's got one in their museum. The plaque on the case is downright creepy, something about "though dead, he is still on duty collecting for railwaymen and their families." |
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[ds] Yes, that sounds exactly like the plaque on the one that used to be at Wimbledon. I'll keep an eye out next time I'm at Sheffield Park. I suppose there were significant advantages in stuffing them - they didn't need feeding, and they weren't likely to trip the passengers. The money collected went to the railway orphanage in Woking (I feel there's a Jenny Agutter gag in there somewhere...)
UPDATE I understand the Slough dog (Station Jim) is still there on platform 5. I'd go and check him out, but Slough is such a dump - Betjeman was right. |
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Ideal stations for dog mascots include Leeds, Barking, Kennelworth etc........ |
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Might be easier to simply not piss people off so much that they want to bomb us in the first place. |
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What? And go without war protests? |
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Not all of the dogs need actually be bomb sniffing. Some could just be dogs. The deterrence factor would be the same! |
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//a community of meerkats in-station//
I am suddenly reminded of the game Fur Fighters. |
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Sorry to burst everyone's bubble of security, but I don't think this will help. It might stop a few amateurs, but intellegent terrorists (if there is such a thing) know dogs can't sniff through an airtight seal. |
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[Aq-bi]: How many terrorists do you know that really want to go to the work of hermetically sealing something that's just gonna blow to pieces anyway? |
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Besides, the dogs will still be able to detect traces on hands, pant-legs, hair, et cetera. |
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In addition to creating a sense of community spirit ("Penn Station Bassets ROCK!!!! WOOOOOOO!!1!!!shift1!!!")this would also be an excellent way to reduce the strain on animal shelters. Points all around. |
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i wonder what the life of someone who works with fireworks is like. Surely they would constantly have gunpowder and similar bomb like residue all over their person. i'm assuming they would carry at all times some sort of license, especially for travelling on planes and through sniffer dog security checks. |
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I'm pretty sure you have to be licensed to manufacture fireworks. |
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Besides, a few "Sorry my dog bit your crotch, but you must smell like bombs"es would be worth it, in the long run. |
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[benfrost] - I used to know a guy who worked in a fireworks factory (he was a chemist). He then went on to work in a radiological laboratory. I never thought to ask him about that... |
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//How many terrorists do you know that really want to go to the work of hermetically sealing something that's just gonna blow to pieces anyway?// - Just about any terrorist that wants to carry a bomb past a sniffer dog. There are actually quite complex smell-proofing techniques that have been developed by Afghan hash exporters, I kid you not. |
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So long as they all look like Lassie - there's no way a hermetic seal would fool her.
"What's that old girl? I think she's trying to tell us something..." |
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I wonder what stops an undercover terrorist from going to work in a fireworks factory. If he got a license, then he would be free to travel around smelling of gunpowder!! Perfect cover for someone who is making or transporting bombs. He could even steal gunpower or other explosives from work a small amount at a time in his shoes until he had enough for a bomb!! There must be checks in place to stop this I suppose.... |
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Sure, [UnaBubba], that equipment is available, but it's really expensive, and not nearly as cute. I think I read somewhere that it's not nearly as sensitive or as quick as a dog... ...too lazy to find any evidence to back that up... :) |
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They might be about to bake this in London, according to The BBC. See Link... |
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Just heard it on the news - this is now baked in London. |
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