Battersea rescue dog to sniff out lung infection

A rescue puppy from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home is to become one of only a handful of dogs in the world able to detect a multi-drug resistant lung infection.

Chilli has passed all of his assessments and is being trained to identify the scent of pseudomonas aeruginosa, a major cause of lung damage in people with cystic fibrosis.

Medical Detection Dogs (MDD) says that successfully training more dogs like Chilli could lead to faster and more accurate diagnosis in a far less intrusive way.

Chilli was selected from a litter of puppies born into Battersea's care for MDD and was described as "a confident, strong willed puppy who loved to sniff".

After an initial assessment by the charity's Dog Supply Team, Chilli spent the past year living with volunteers in a family home to ensure he remained confident and comfortable in everyday environments.

Chris Allen, head of puppy supply and training at MDD, said: "He is full of personality, confidence and loves to use his nose, which are all attributes we look for in a Bio Detection Dog.

"He needs to be assertive enough to tell us when he has found his target odour and when it is not present – and he will be rewarded for both decisions.

"He loves life at our training centre, where he gets dropped off for training in the morning and collected at the end of the day.

"Chilli's journey is a special one – we're so pleased to have found the perfect job and home for him."

Pseudomonas aeruginosa chronically infects about 60% of the 10,000 cystic fibrosis patients in the UK.

A 2019 study by MDD, Imperial College London and the Cystic Fibrosis Trust found that Bio Detection Dogs can detect ultra low concentrations of the infection in samples, correctly identifying it in about 94% of true cases and correctly ruling it out in almost 99% of non cases.

A spokesperson for Battersea Dogs & Cats Home said: "While we believe that every dog and cat in our care is special, even as a tiny pup we knew that Chilli had something extra special about him.

"We're so grateful to Medical Detection Dogs and the other charities we work with for seeing the potential in our dogs and giving them the wonderful lives they deserve."

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