The next time you spot a security dog at the airport, chances are it'll be some kind of cuddly breed with floppy ears. That's because the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has decided that dogs with pointy ears are too "scary" for travelers – particularly younger travelers.
While the TSA isn't officially changing its dog policy to avoid breeds like German Shepherds in favor of, say, Labradors, the federal agency has indicated that it's going to focus on maintaining a "floppy ear" force wherever possible so as to avoid "scar[ing] children."
"We've made a conscious effort in TSA ... to use floppy ear dogs," explains TSA administrator David Pekoske, who recently gave reporters a tour of Washington Dulles International Airport.
"We find the passenger acceptance of floppy ear dogs is just better. It presents just a little bit less of a concern ... (and) doesn't scare children."
The TSA currently maintains a national dog fleet of around 1,200 pups, roughly 80 percent of which are floppy ear-compliant. The remaining 20 percent are pointy-eared dogs, some of which will be phased out in the coming years.
"TSA uses five types of sporting breeds: Labrador Retrievers, German Short-haired Pointers, Wirehaired Pointers, Vizslas, and Golden Retrievers," says Anna Giaritelli from The Washington Examiner.
"It also uses two types of pointy-ear, or working breed, dogs: the German Shepherd and Belgian Malinois."
TSA worried pointy-eared dogs will scare "the children," but has no qualms about molesting innocent travelers both young and old to "fight terrorism"
Just to be clear, the TSA isn't banning pointy-ear dogs, as the agency says it's number-one priority is safety and security – which means bringing in the best dogs for the job, pointy ears or otherwise.
At the same time, this unofficial change is somewhat dubious, considering the TSA seems to have no problem scaring children with its own agents, who we earlier reported have been accused of sexually assaulting passengers with their pat-down procedures.
Air travelers who choose to opt-out of passing through the TSA's "naked body scanners" are given a personalized pat-down that involves TSA agents using their "palms and fingers" to "probe" people's bodies for potential weapons – including children's bodies.
It's more than enough to traumatize a person, and yet the TSA is more focused on dog breeds, apparently – as if children everywhere are just too frightened to go anywhere near an airport out of fear that a pointy-eared canine might approach and harm them.
The truth, of course, is that most children love dogs of all types and breeds, regardless of their ear shape. And what most kids don't like is having strangers touch them in their private areas, which is what TSA agents do all the time in the name of "fighting terrorism."
Why the TSA is making much ado about nothing concerning the shape of dogs' ears remains unclear. We can only assume that this is more about canine racism, or breedism, than it is about making the travel experience more comfortable for our young people.
After all, if this was really about improving the air travel experience for young passengers as the TSA claims, then the TSA would instead abolish itself entirely and allow airports to once again manage their own security checks like they did prior to 9/11 – without the naked body scanners and invasive pat-downs.
"The TSA is an unconstitutional agency," explains Flat Out Unconstitutional. "The TSA creates a bigger risk to our lives and prevents nothing."
"When you go through the TSA check point, what you leave behind are your 1st Amendment, 2nd Amendment, 4th Amendment, 5th Amendment, and 10th Amendment rights, just to name a few. The Federal Government has no enumerated authority to create an agency like the TSA in the first place."
For more related news, be sure to check out TSA.Fetch.news.
Sources for this article include:
Please contact us for more information.