Leiche, a 2-year-old cadaver canine, will be the newest member of the Erie County Sheriff’s team and only the second female K9 deployed to work for the department.
Leiche is a rescue and a beautiful one at that. She is being trained by a dog trainer in Ontario, Canada where she will learn to locate human remains buried by detecting scents from human cells called volatile fatty acids. Leiche will be trained by using placenta, blood, teeth, human fat, and soil from where a person has decomposed, then rewarded for detecting a human scent.
She will be one of only a few National Association of Professional Canine Handlers (NAPCH) cadaver certified K9s in the northeast after she finishes training this month.