By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
Bomb-sniffing dogs are being used by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in an effort to prevent a terrorist bombing.
The decision to deploy the dogs at the university's Mount Scopus campus marks the first time bomb-sniffing dogs are being used by an Israeli university.
The four specially trained dogs - Sam, Fux, Kim and Junior - were recently acquired by the university and are being used for night patrols on campus to detect explosives, Hebrew University spokeswoman Esther Tal said Monday.
The university said it would increase the number of bomb-sniffing dogs it used if a trial period proved successful, and might even deploy them at the entrances to the campus.
When off-duty, the dogs are being kept in separate cages in a secluded section of the sprawling campus.
Security at the university was beefed up following the July 31, 2002, terrorist bombing at the cafeteria in the Frank Sinatra Student Center on Mount Scopus in which nine people were killed. Approximately two dozen security guards man the entrances, which have metal detectors.
Last year, 16 bomb-sniffing dogs were deployed to detect suicide bombers on Jerusalem buses and the central bus station. The IDF and police have been using bomb-sniffing dogs for several years.