COVID Sniffing Dogs Helped Out At Pinecrest Jazz Festival

PINECREST (CBSMiami) - It was the opening night of the South Motors Jazz Series starring E-Street drummer Max Weinberg and his jazz team.

While the crowd was required to mask up, they did not need to show any proof of testing or vaccination.

"All we need you to know is that we have two COVID sniffing dogs," said Michelle Hammontree.

Those two sniffing dogs were two adorable beagles.

"I thought they would be much bigger types of dogs," said an attendant.

Noel and Buddy sniffed up to 500 people. They are trained to sit if they detect the virus.

"Bioscent trains medical detection dogs," said Heather Junqueria, the founder of Bioscent.

She said they are 98 percent accurate.

"And in some cases, we found the dogs are picking up 3 to 5 days before PCR testing," said Junqueria.

"They are trained to pick up compounds in the body's system. So they are trained off an odor when someone has COVID," said Junqueria.

Bioscent teamed up with Florida International University's Global Forensic and Justice Center to provide Saturday's safe environment.