Nearly 10 years after he began his hunt for a superbug known as C. difficile in Vancouver, Angus the English springer spaniel is giving his nose a rest as he retires from the job.
Angus was part of Vancouver General Hospital’s pilot project in 2015 to see if a dog could sniff out the dangerous bacterium, also known as Clostridium difficile. The superbug is most harmful among people whose immune systems have been weakened by antibiotics.
The dangerous microbe has been a concern for hospitals across North America and can cause infectious diarrhea in hospitals and long-term care facilities. Even with rigorous cleaning practices, it can still be hard to detect.
That’s where Angus came in, finding C. difficile in areas of the hospital that would otherwise go unnoticed by the naked eye. Angus found C. difficile in places like discarded pieces of furniture and outdated medical equipment.
He began training in February 2016 and started sniffing out infections a year later. He has since spent 85 per cent of his life serving B.C. and Canadian residents. He’s worked in 32 hospitals across Canada.
“He’s sniffed thousands of units and had just as many alerts, so that’s all potentials for saving people in those,” said Teresa Zurberg, Angus’ trainer.
“But as with people, eventually the body starts to slow down. The mind doesn’t, but the body is like, ‘I’m a little more tired this morning.’ So he was just telling us, ‘I’m still really good at this, but I’m not excellent at it like I was.’ So he’s going on to new adventures.”
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The retirement party on Sunday was organized by Zurburg, who also created Vancouver Coastal Health’s K9 Detection Program.
She said the dogs do routine screenings of units in health-care facilities and hospitals. They then raise an alert when they find “environmental reservoirs” of C. difficile. The area can then be cleaned with a UV light disinfecting robot to remove most of the superbug spores.
Prior to training Angus, Zurberg had herself been infected by the superbug after being treated for a gash on her leg in 2013. She said she knows the danger of the superbug all too well.
“I was already working as a canine handler for explosives and narcotics,” Zurberg said about how the program started. “It’s got an odour. I can train a dog to find it.”
Zurberg said Angus has turned his attention to sniffing out lost arrows in the bush at Semiahmoo Fish And Game Club in Surrey, B.C. She said some of the arrows cost $100, so being able to recover them is helpful.
The 13-year-old pup has also made many friends along the way, his trainer said; he’s met politicians like former B.C. premier John Horgan and various ministers of health, premiers and celebrities.
While Angus has retired from health services, Zurberg is hoping she can get him one more bit of recognition.
“I think Angus has done his dues, he’s been recognized internationally, he’s been given awards,” she said. “So I’d really like to be able to get him the Canadian service medal for what he’s done for people.”
She said nominations are currently only accepted for humans, but she’s hoping she can get government officials’ support to get the medal for Angus.
—with files from Global News Darragh MacGowan
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