Bands like METALLICA and TOOL are among the recent artists to recruit dogs specially trained to sniff out COVID-19 specifically for any individual who has access to the backstage area.
According to Rolling Stone, METALLICA hired an Ohio-based company called ‘Bio Detection K9’ for their fall shows in Fort Lauderdale and Atlanta and also for their 40th anniversary concerts in San Francisco last month.
“So far, knock on wood, the dogs have been knocking it out of the park,” says John Peets of Q Prime, the management company that represents METALLICA. “We haven’t had a dog miss anybody.”
Bio Detection K9 has been in the business of using dogs to detect viruses, bacteria, and fungus for over a decade in partnership with the US Department of Agriculture and other government agencies. The company plans to channel efforts toward deploying COVID-detecting canine assets around the world, aiding the general population in resuming social and sporting events safely. Looking ahead, they plan to address upcoming biologic and medical challenges in a sustainable fashion, revolutionizing the way the world views a canine’s ability to detect and prevent health concerns on a global scale.
Bio Detection K9 dogs are trained specifically for COVID-19 and its various strains, and do not respond to seasonal flus and colds.
Also, the dogs are not currently used to search large masses of people, just manageable crowd sizes.