| Summary: | Abstract Background One of the main aims of forensic investigation is the detection and location of people and substances of interest, such as missing people and illegal drugs. Dogs ( Canis lupus var. familiaris ) have had an important role in legal and forensic investigations for decades; nonetheless canines’ keen sense of smell has never been utilized in either the surveillance or control of wildlife diseases. The rapid removal and treatment of infected carcasses and/or sick animals is a key task in the management of infectious diseases, but it is usually difficult or impractical to carry out in the wild. Results In this paper we report on a study running over a period of 15 years, in which - for the first time to our knowledge - two disease-detector dogs were trained to follow the scent of Sarcoptes -infected animals and to find carcasses, even under the snow, and apparently no false positives were detected in fieldwork. Sarcoptic mange-detector dogs were used to collect the carcasses of 292 mangy wild animals and to identify, separate from their herd, and capture 63 mange-infected wild animals in the Italian Alps. Conclusions Properly trained disease-detector dogs are an efficient and straightforward tool for surveillance and control of sarcoptic mange in affected wild animal populations.
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