Tracking Down Leaks with Vessel, the Leak Detection Dog

Central Arkansas Water (CAW) hired a unique employee last year to bolster the utility’s distribution system leak detection capabilities. What makes this employee unique? She’s a black Labrador mix named Vessel, and she’s the first canine in North America to serve as a leak-sniffing dog. Join AWE and CAW on December 2 at 1 p.m. CST for a webinar describing Vessel’s amazing story.

Vessel was rescued from an animal shelter at the Arkansas Department of Corrections’ Paws in Prison program, which enables inmates to work with rescue dogs to socialize and teach them basic obedience skills. In 2018, CAW CEO Tad Bohannon returned from Great Britain, where he’d learned about a leak-sniffing dog at United Utilities. Eager to bring the practice of canine leak detection to Arkansas, Bohannon asked the Paws in Prison program for its top student, and was connected with Vessel.