Leak Detection Dogs Find New Home in Gillette

While the Powder River Basin deals with coal layoffs, the oil industry is going to the dogs. 

Gillette is the new home for K9 Pipe Inspections – a company that specializes in training dogs to detect leaks in underground oil and gas pipelines. In a quote to the Wyoming Business Report, CEO Mitch Hager says moving to Wyoming puts the company at the center of the action when it comes to the demand for their services. 

“We are pleased to announce our move to the energy capital of the nation,” Hager said. “We believe this move will place us strategically between several key oil and gas regions in the Northwest so our highly trained dogs can be quickly made available to operators needing our services.”

Leaks along pipelines are a constant worry and threat in the oil and gas industry, and leak detection dogs are growing in popularity as a solution. With their hyper-sensitive noses, dogs —  usually Belgian Malinois, Dutch Shepherds, and labs — have the ability to reach places and traverse terrain that is still inaccessible to technology and can detect leaks with pinpoint accuracy. 

Since the founding of the company in 2017, K9 Pipe Inspections has used its team of dogs as an “all-terrain” team of leak detectors. By adding a “novel odor” to a pipeline and moving the dogs along it, they can detect any place where the odor is coming out of the pipe, which signals a leak. The K9 Pipe website claims “properly trained pipeline leak detection dogs have been tested and proven to be accurate at a range between 96%-99%.”

K9 Pipe Inspections has already sniffed their way to success in oil and gas fields in Texas, California, and New Mexico. Their dogs are trained daily to work in any kind of weather and terrain. 

The company also takes a public stance on a commitment to the environment. In November 2020, K9 Pipe joined The Industrial Forest, a coalition of energy sector businesses on a mission to create sustainable forests throughout the country. 

Now, this innovative company has chosen to make Wyoming its new home, seeing it as the best move for a stronger future in the energy industry.