In Harrison's report of 23(?) July 2007 he referred to the use of a VRD dog team & an EVRD + CSI blood dog. He only costed the EVRD + CSI dog. Therefore any decision to only use Eddie & Keela must have been made on or after that date but I don't know offhand who told the McCanns. Gerry had previously asked for specialist dogs from the UK to be deployed & the UK police had offered such a service to the PJ in the early days but the PJ declined.
Mark Harrison knew all about these dogs well before the McCann case.
31 DEC 2005
Her handler, Pc Martin Grime, has been responsible for training Keela, along with National Search Adviser Mark Harrison, since June last year.
Keela, a 16-month-old springer spaniel, can sniff out the smallest samples of human blood - even after items have been cleaned or washed many times.
A South Yorkshire force spokeswoman said Keela - officially a crime scene investigation dog - has saved more then £200,000 nationally since April this year, helping with investigations in Ireland, Cornwall, Wiltshire, Surrey and the Thames Valley.
http://eddieandkeela.blogspot.com/2005/12/how-police-dog-earns-more-than-top.html