(LOS ANGELES) — Not all the Super Bowl action on Sunday will be on the field at Sofi Stadium — it might be outside in the search for bombs and suspicious packages.
More than 30 bomb-sniffing dogs from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) K-9 unit — come to Los Angeles from as far as Savannah, Georgia.
“ATF K-9 Division is out here with K-9 from all over the country, making sure that this is one of the safest cities in America,” Ginger Colbrun, an ATF spokeswoman told ABC News. “We are making sure that any bags that are left are taken care of and they don’t have any explosives or firearms or ammunition in them.”
ABC News watched a demonstration of ATF dogs sniffing backpacks outside of the Super Bowl Experience, an interactive three-day event at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
ATF’s bomb-sniffing dogs work other large-scale events as well, including various pro sports all-star games, and the G-9 summit, Colburn said.
“These dogs work on a food reward basis, so every time they smell an explosive, they receive food and so they train all day, all week, all year,” she explained.
Belle, Wolfgang and Jerry — three of the ATF bomb sniffing dogs that ABC News watched train — are part of the 12 K-9 teams from around the U.S. at the Super Bowl.
Overall, ATF has more than 80 people in Los Angeles at various locations around the city.
Alex Guerrero, a career bomb technician with ATF said that if the dog does get a hit on a suspicious package, it’s trained to sit right by it.
“We do quite a bit of training and this is what this is, what we train for,” Guerrero, who is based in Houston, Texas, said. “We’re all trained well and have great equipment to do our job.”
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