Why was PC Grime and the specialist dogs deployed to Praia da Luz?

[John]

They were NOT false alerts.

The dogs alerted to cadaver and blood, and DNA was located at the alert sites.

What makes that "false"?

We don't know what Eddie alerted to that's the problem, now if a dog could only speak, that would be a breakthrough.   

oops  sorry Dave...I see you have already pointed this out.

[Wonderfulspam]

And still we wait for a single example of a missing person found alive after a death dog indicated that they weren't.

[pegasus]

And still we wait for a single example of a missing person found alive after a death dog indicated that they weren't.

However, even if the dog is correct, the dog voices absolutely no opinion on how the scent came to be there.

[Benice]

However, even if the dog is correct, the dog voices absolutely no opinion on how the scent came to be there.

Neither does the dog know whether the scent was from a cadaver or a live person - or who it belonged to or how old it was.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Oh ffs John, will you simply pick a side and stick with it !
Your ever changing theatrical swings, dependent on the posting status of the board is wearing rather painfully thin !
As are Angelo's !

Why is being prepared to consider different aspects and angles before arriving at a conclusion theatrical, OP?

Isn't it far more theatrical to stick religiously to one's point and have everyone and everything dance around it?

[Mr Moderator]

Why is being prepared to consider different aspects and angles before arriving at a conclusion theatrical, OP?

Isn't it far more theatrical to stick religiously to one's point and have everyone and everything dance around it?

Justice isn't like a rugby game or a football match, you don't pick a side and stick with it as Opposing Pat earlier suggested.  If only it were so simple.

Justice requires that you look at all aspects of a case, perusing the available evidence and only make a decision on that basis.  All too often people make decisions on justice on the basis of their own prejudices and this is where the criminal justice system falls down.  Dogmatically refusing to alter ones position is not the way one should approach these cases.

[gilet]

As far as I am aware the offer of specialist dogs was made a early as mid-May 2007 with Keela standing by ready to be flown out but the PJ turned the offer down.  So why did take them nearly three months to change their minds?

Do you have any source for this please? I have looked but can find no reference to specialist dogs being requested or even offered as early as May 2007. There is a vast corpus of information though and I could easily have missed the relevant news article or file report.

[gilet]

I carried on looking and have found the following:

Though it is only a news article it does refer to an offer of specialist assistance made in May. Does anyone else know of anything which confirms this offer?

The potential breakthrough led to immediate criticism of Portuguese police for missing key evidence, and failing to bring in outside expertise earlier in the investigation.

The apartment was searched this weekend even through it had been "released'' as a crime scene by Portuguese authorities on June 11, cleaned and rented out to other families.

Former detectives are mystified as to why it has taken more than three months to make the discovery. Mark Williams-Thomas, a former Surrey detective and now a leading child protection expert, said: "I am staggered that it has taken so long. The police should have sealed the apartment on day one, and then conducted a thorough examination - this would have taken days and would have involved stripping the apartment bare.

"Even if this proves not to be significant, it should have been discovered in the first few days and eliminated. Just imagine the impact it will have on Gerry and Kate [McCann] so many months on - to find that something so vital was missed.

"It is great that British police have finally carried out a review but why has it taken three months for it to happen? It makes a mockery of the Portuguese investigation''

British police dog handlers had offered expertise to Portuguese authorities in May. They were only invited to join a "review of evidence'' last week. A two-day "final'' search of Mr Murat's villa, 150 yards from where Madeleine disappeared, uncovered no new evidence. As many as 10 officers had spent Saturday clearing thick vegetation. They began digging yesterday and two British police technicians used scanning equipment to detect whether any earth had been "disturbed'' recently.

I have no access to the Telegraph archive so have copied the article from Newsbank (a reputable archive of all national and many local UK and other newspapers)