Calgary police are using pigs as surrogates during training in search-and-recovery efforts on the Bow River, according to multiple local reports. The articles describe that investigators submerge pig bodies to study and evaluate river conditions and how quickly items or evidence may move, degrade, or become difficult to recover in water. Police say the approach is intended to improve understanding of underwater search performance, including where objects may travel with currents and how search teams should plan searches.
Both outlets frame the method as part of forensic and recovery research rather than an operational response to a specific incident, noting that pigs have been used in prior studies because their bodies can serve as human surrogates in controlled water conditions. The reports indicate the police training helps inform tactics for river searches, but they do not describe any findings tied to a particular case. Details such as the extent of the training, the exact protocols, or the timing of the exercises vary across reports, with the central theme remaining consistent: pig surrogates are used to better prepare recovery efforts in the river environment.
