Did you know that Russia had a Sniffer cat to Catch Smugglers?
By jennybianca
@jennybianca (12912)
Australia
December 10, 2009 8:07pm CST
I found this great story about a very clever cat.
Rusik, the cat, walked into a police checkpoint a year ago as a stray kitten. The staff quickly adopted it, feeding it on scraps of sturgeon confiscated from smugglers. He learned the taste and scent very well. Rusik was later recruited by police at a checkpoint in the Stavropol region, bordering the Caspian Sea, to uncover illegal cargoes of the endangered fish.
A cat's sense of smell is reportedly more sensitive than a dog's. The problem usually is getting the cooperation of the cat to use that ability. As it turned out, Rusik's ability to sniff out poached fish hidden in trucks and other vehicles was so good that he had replaced the local sniffer dog. No matter how ingenious the smugglers were in their attempts to hide the fish, Rusik was always able to point his nose in the right direction and find it.
Sadly, Rusik's career was ended suddenly when he was hit by a car in which he had found smuggled sturgeon some time before.
From BBC News
3 people like this
6 responses
@averagejill (20)
• United States
12 Dec 09
Wow! That's a cool story! I think I'll dub my next cat Rusik. Haha. I also heard a story where they used a cat to help out instead of a dog. I think they named it Lassie but I don't remember all the details. When they were building one of the prominant dams in the United States they had these tunnels that the men had to go through to build supports and things, connecting tubes and lines. Well, if they ever got trapped, they would send the cat through with a rolling board connected to a rope, so that the trapped man could lie on the board and get pulled back out. It was neat, unfortunately, I heard the story a long time ago and don't know how the rest went.
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
12 Dec 09
So the cat volunatarily went in this tunnel pulling a rolling board! Thats amazing.
@averagejill (20)
• United States
17 Dec 09
Hhaha, yeah. Maybe all the workers kept a little cat-snack in their pocket for it. But I saw it on a touristic movie and know it was true . . . just can't remember the details or the name of the dam that they constructed.
@cerebellum (3863)
• United States
11 Dec 09
That was one cooperative cat. I have heard that their senses are more acute than dogs but dogs are easier to contol. Not control really but get them to do anything. Cats usually don't do what you want them to do unless it suits their purpose at the time. Maybe he thought he was going to get some of the fish he found. What a nice story, to bad it had a sad ending.
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
11 Dec 09
Cats are very independant. But certainly I have heard of instances where they can be trained to do things.
@cerebellum (3863)
• United States
11 Dec 09
I think cats are more intelligent than dogs and I know they can be trained to do all kinds of things, it's a matter of getting them to do them when you want them to. Dogs on the other hand are so eager for their masters approval they will do anything on command if they are trained to do it. I guess that's why they have dogs to help handicapped people, and never cats.
1 person likes this
@whiteheather39 (24403)
• United States
11 Dec 09
I was enjoying the story until I reached the sad ending. I wish every animal story had a happy ending.
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
11 Dec 09
Yes, I know. Sometimes I avoid stories with sad endings, but its not realistic I guess.
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
11 Dec 09
Unfortunately, no, I dont have a pic of the cat. I do have pics of my cats, so I should think of a discussion when I can show them.
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
11 Dec 09
hi jennybianca wow a sniffer cat , I had heard their sense of smell was even better than dogs. smart cat and of course he 
would love the fish they fed him . that is so sad thathe was struck and killed by a car which he had found smuggled
sturgeon in before. 
would love the fish they fed him . that is so sad thathe was struck and killed by a car which he had found smuggled
sturgeon in before. 1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
11 Dec 09
Apparently it is normally very hard to train a cat to act on demand, unlike dogs, but this cat was quite receptive to training. We taught one of our cats to "kiss".
@kaylachan (69824)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
11 Dec 09
Sometimes I wish more and more cats would get reconition for things like that. Cats are such smart amazing creatures. My cat Precious for example knows when I need to sit down or when my legs might give out. I'm not sure, but I think he can detect when my sugar might be getting low. I'm still trying to figure that one out. Cats in general have been known to perform things no one thought them capable of.
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
11 Dec 09
I agree completely. Cats are very perceptive. There is evidence that cats can detect sugar levels in people, or even cancer.
