They have been helpful. They have indicated to a team of forensic investigators that there are certain areas where they may find samples of interest. Guess what? That's exactly what they did find! It's not the dogs fault that the limited FSS methods at the time found the evidence "too complex" to allow for meaningful interpretation.
Exactly.
I'm not interest in analysing the efficacy or science behind the detection method. It could be a sharp-eyed detective who finds a bullet casing that everyone missed - it's the analysis and subsequent results and interpretation of those results thereafter that is contentious / admissible / not admissible evidentially.
I've said it before - if Eddie, Morse or Keela were 60% right, so what? They're a detection tool. Ground penetrating radar needs you to dig down to an anomaly; a lot of the time there's b....r all down there, it's nowhere near an exact science, but it's pretty useful. You'd rather have the tools than not.
The problem we have here is that the 'finds' of the dogs don't jive with some supporters paradigm; to the point where their efficacy needs to be denigrated. Mr McCann started this process himself in quite a vociferous manner.