covid-19 "Must Have" survival kit - a Dog and a Llama!

Courtesy of Wikimedia commons

It is possible that some day the COVID-19 "must have" survival kit will include one dog and one llama!

The dog will diagnose the disease, i.e. inform you if you have the virus, and the llama will provide the antibodies that can stop the virus.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School are working to train dogs to recognize the scent of the infection and to alert you, just as dogs can do with seizures, cancer, and a multitude of assorted odors.

Scientists are also working with a llama named Winter, in Belgium, to see if her special llama antibodies (recovered via blood draw) can immediately and temporarily block the corona virus cell from infecting people. Past uses of llama antibodies showed effectiveness in stopping both SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV viruses for a short period of time.

Problem solved!

No Swabs Necessary -Just Dogs

Texas dog no one wanted honored by spcaLA
as hero

We know dogs can be trained to detect seizures, glue, bombs, heart attacks, cancer and other interesting things due to their exceptional smell capabilities. In fact, in his book, Dr. Sleep, Stephen King wrote in a cat that could predict death the night before it happened.

Therefore, if a COVID-19 infection emits an odor, you can bet that a dog will be able to smell it and tell you about it. University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine is putting researchers on the case to do just that.

What you may not know is that many of these extraordinary dogs are found at shelters all across the country and trained for these "nose jobs". What we have found at spcaLA is that sometimes your untrained family pet has such a skill and displays it at the exact right time.

spcaLA has honored such dogs over the years.

You can do the same by adopting a shelter dog.