In 2023, Australian Erin Patterson was charged with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder following the fatal lunch she prepared at her home. Patterson was arrested after serving a Beef Wellington to her guests that police suspect contained death cap mushrooms. When police searched the Patterson home, they unleashed electronics-sniffing dogs, who managed to find 5 iPads, a mobile phone, a USB and a smartwatch that had not been found by police in their initial search. Today, there are a handful of ESD dogs scattered across the country, who are pioneering a low-tech way to solve high-tech crimes. Dogs are trained to smell for a compound called triphenylphosphine oxide (TPPO), which covers the circuit boards in all storage devices from large hard drives down to microSD cards to keep them from overheating. Another compound — hydroxycyclohexyl phenyl ketone (HPK) — is present on all removable media, such as CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays, and even floppy disks. Similar to drug or arson detection dogs, electronics detection dogs are trained to recognize a chemical odor and to sit when the odor is present. When the dog identifies an odor properly, he/she gets food.
