Push for the use of sniffer dogs at music festivals to be probed

As police prepare to crack down on drug use at music festivals, pressure is mounting on the state government to probe the effectiveness of sniffer dogs, with one party saying they do more harm than good.

Pressure is growing on the state government and police to probe the effectiveness of sniffer dogs and whether they cause more harm, as another Victorian party pushes for reforms.

Liberal Democrats MPs have put a motion to the state parliament calling for police to urgently investigate the unintended consequences of deploying the dog squad at music festivals.

Ultra Festival an electronic music festival held at Flemington Racecourse. Police sniffer dogs were kept busy intercepting festival goers suspected of carrying illegal drugs. Picture: Lawrence Pinder

Revellers at an Australian music festival Picture: Sam Ruttyn

The move comes after the Reason Party and The Greens have also expressed similar concerns in recent years.

Last month a NSW coronial inquest also found strong evidence revellers were engaging in risky behaviour when dogs were around including ingesting large quantities of drugs.

“Many concerning reports about the way drug detection dogs are used emerged from a coronial inquest into festival deaths in NSW,” MP David Limbrick said. 

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“The NSW Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame noted that sniffer dogs have not only led to risky ingestion of drugs but also trauma when coupled with strip searches.

“She also noted evidence that the program does not deter drug users from consuming drugs.”

Overhauls of the use of sniffer dogs at festivals was recommended in Victoria in 2018 as part of an explosive parliamentary inquiry into drugs that had been proposed by Upper House by Vote Reason MP Fiona Patten.

Despite the findings Victoria Police have ignored the calls and will be taking a tougher stance on drugs this summer with dogs, drones and more officers to be deployed at major rural events including Rainbow Serpent, Meredith Music Festival and Falls Festival.

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