CSI Inspired Dog Names

Mattie was a black Labrador Retriever who quickly rose to fame as an accelerant detection dog. She was in many ways a real crime scene investigator. Any time firemen or police suspected that a fire was not natural but caused by arson they would bring in Mattie to sniff around and detect any possible accelerants. If she discovered the scent of an accelerant, then the law officials knew that the fire had been not an accident and instead was an active crime scene.

Accelerant-sniffing Mattie was the first canine of her kind in the entire United States to be placed on operational duty. She started her law enforcement career in 1986 and proudly served for 11 years.

Mattie had been trained to actively sniff out any evidence that might indicate the fire had not been a natural occurrence but instead the result of arson. She was able to accurately identify 17 different accelerants after a fire. Interestingly, she was even able to rapidly identify a possible suspect by sniffing out the accelerant residue that was left on the suspect's skin even after washing. Such skills made her a critical component in finding an arsonist in the crowd of onlookers after a fire. Many arsonists return to the scene of the crime to watch the investigation at the arson site's aftermath. 

In 1986, Mattie was actively certified by the Connecticut State Police and sworn into service as a K9 officer. Interestingly, the ATF states that Mattie and other dogs trained to detect accelerants at a crime scene is far more accurate than even scientific instruments and tests. The Auburn University's Institute of Biological Detection reported that a dog's olfactory systems could detect at a level of parts per quadrillion (1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000)

Mattie was handled by Connecticut State Police Trooper Douglas Lancelot. Even while a fire was being aggressively fought by the firefighters, he would often take Mattie to wander through the crowd of onlookers to see if she would alert to an accelerant on one of the bystanders. 

The success of Mattie as the first accelerant dog in the nation has spurred many branches of law enforcement to embrace such dogs as a crucial part of crime scene investigation. Now, the DEA even has an extensive training program that focuses on teaching the skills of accelerant detection to canines. 

After serving on the force for over a decade. Mattie entered retirement but, nowadays, there are innumerable dogs across the nation that have followed in her CSI footsteps.