The Southern Water Company has 25,000-miles of sewers serving Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom, and homeowners know that nothing “gunks” up the works like fat, oil and grease (known in the industy as “FOG”). As of 2014, at least 17,000 blockages a year backed up sewers, an unpleasant, to say nothing of unhealthy, situation.

When CCTV, sonar surveys, and hi-tech efforts failed to effectively to search for blockages, Steve Williams, an ex-police dog handler, wondered if a Bloodhound wouldn’t work better, and he knew just the dog: Hector.

Hector, Williams’ own Bloodhound, and a former police officer, himself, came out of retirement to join three former policemen now employed as “fat detectives,” network protection, and enforcement officers. His job: To sniff out congealed blobs of fats.

Photo by PA which appeared in the Telegraph