Drug patrol dogs back in Quebec schools

MONTREAL, May 14 (UPI) -- A Canadian school board northwest of Montreal has approved reintroducing drug-detecting dogs in schools based on a Supreme Court ruling.

The school board in St. Jerome, northwest of Montreal employed a private contractor to take dogs into schools beginning April 11, The Gazette newspaper in Montreal reported.

However, after two weeks, the deal was suspended when the Supreme Court of Canada ruled out the use of police dogs in random school searches.

Board Chairman Remy Tremblay said after reviewing the decision, teachers, parents, the school administration and students agreed it applied only to police dogs and not the system that was suspended.

"A key element here is that we aren't using use sniffer dogs to arrest students or put students behind bars," Tremblay told the newspaper. "We are using them simply to identify kids at risk and to notify parents."

The German shepherds are trained to sit beside a student, locker or backpack that has the scent of drugs, the report said.