A common theme running through the conference was the use of dogs and rats as detectors of landmines in humanitarian demining efforts. Although some of the presentations related specifically to humanitarian demining (e.g., the transport of explosive compounds through soil), the majority of presentations described research findings that are applicable across a range of animal species searching for a range of target odours. Indeed, presenters were asked to highlight the general principles that emerge from their work in order that a wide audience of practitioners and other scientists could consider the application of those principles in various domains where animals serve as detectors.

Objectives of the conference were that participants understand:

  1. domains in which animal detection systems have been applied;
  2. important basic chemical principles involved in the production and transport of odours (i.e., how odours become available for animals);
  3. basic physiological and neurological principles involved in the olfactory systems of animals (i.e., how odours are sensed by animals);
  4. principles and strategies used in the breeding, selection and early training of detection animals (i.e., how to prepare an animal to be trained);
  5. key principles of learning involved in training animals to detect and indicate a target odour, and identify those principles used in some training strategies (i.e., how to train animals);
  6. principles of single-subject research designs used in Applied Behaviour Analysis (i.e., how to test the effectiveness of training components);
  7. research and development efforts seeking new applications for animal-detection systems (i.e., where else our technology might be applied).
  8. testing of the performance on Mine Detection Dogs