4-year-old Pit Bull Hansel was rescued from a dogfighting ring in Ontario, Canada when he was just a few weeks old.
Hansel was taken in by the Throw Away Dogs Project, a nonprofit in Philadelphia that rescues "unique" dogs and trains them to become K9 officers. The pup was trained with the organization for a year before he was enrolled in a 16-week K9 academy with Tyler Van Leer to become a certified arson detection dog.
During the certification training, Hansel had to learn 14 different odors to graduate. Carol Skaziak, founder of Throw Away dogs, told CNN, "I am 100% sure Hansel is the first pit bull arson detection dog in New Jersey." She says she's pretty positive the pup is the first pit bull in the entire country with these qualifications after doing lots of research.
Recently, the pup officially graduated from training and joined the Millville Fire Department in New Jersey.
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