CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Monday is National Dog Day. They give us unconditional love, but when it comes to security, even man’s best inventions can’t replace man's best friend.

  • The TSA’s “Passenger Screening Canines” are a key part of stopping bombs from getting on a plane.
  • Homeland Security has roughly 1,100 explosives detection canines in TSA.
  • It’s added about 50 canine teams this financial year.

Charlotte-Douglas International Airport's TSA “Passenger Screening Canines” are a key part of stopping bombs from getting on a plane.

Dogs can go bag to bag faster than any screening point; checking each passenger for a whiff of danger.

“If you would take a spritz of perfume and spray it like inside a bedroom, you would smell that,” CMPD’s Officer Chad Paxton said. “But if you took a dog into a football field and you sprayed that same perfume they could smell that perfume in a football field. You just can’t replace their nose.”

Homeland Security has roughly 1,100 explosives detection canines in TSA. It’s added about 50 canine teams this financial year.