JESSIE THE “WONGA DOG”
Cat Jurczenko is a cash dog handler working for Border Force at Heathrow airport. She works with Jessie, a three-year-old springer spaniel.
“We started working together a year ago. We operate under legislation including the Proceeds of Crime act, working to prevent money leaving the country to fund criminality, perhaps for use in terrorism or modern slavery.
“Jessie is trained to detect cash and class A drugs, though the majority of the work we do relates to the search for large sums of money leaving the country. Our dogs can detect the unique mixture of scent of the paper banknotes are printed on and the ink that is used in printing them.
“People have tried to conceal contraband or money they know they shouldn’t be carrying in many different ways. When Jessie finds something she will indicate that to me by sitting and pointing her nose towards the bag or box, for example, where she has detected it.
“The dogs always make a passive indication, so they will sit and stare at the source. If the source keeps moving – it might be on a person or inside a bag on the luggage carousel – then she’ll follow it until it stops.
“Jessie will be rewarded according to the amount of money she finds. If she detects over £1,000 or an equivalent value she will be rewarded with food or a tennis ball, depending on how much it is.
“As everyone travels with some money on them, Jessie will indicate to me several times a day but the majority of finds are legitimate and the passengers can prove where their money has come from.
“She hasn’t been in the job for very long at all but she has had some amazing successes – she made one detection of £350,000 after we had only been in operation for a couple of months – and within five months she had detected over £1 million of cash in multiple finds being smuggled through Heathrow.
“She made the headlines and was even referred to as ‘The Wonga Dog’. Afterwards passengers would even stop me in the terminal and ask, ‘Is that the Wonga Dog we’ve seen on TV?’
“When you consider what that money could have led to, it is very fulfilling role to have. It’s great to come to work every day and to have that cheeky little spaniel there to greet me in her kennel.
“Working with Jessie the amazing ‘Wonga Dog’ is wonderful!”
Within five months Jessie had detected £1 million