The UK’s first-ever detector dogs trained to sniff out imports of meat, fish and other animal products at ports and airports have been hired by the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
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The two male Labradors, who are brothers, born and reared at the Metropolitan Police Dog Training Centre in 2001 have just completed their initial training along with their handlers who are employed as animal health officers at Defra.
They will play a dual role in preventing and deterring those people who are illegally importing meat, fish and other plant and organic products. The detector dogs are yet another strand in the government’s strategy to reduce exotic disease from entering the country.
The government’s nationwide campaign “Don’t Bring Back More Than You Bargained For” which began on 8 July aims to increase public awareness of the dangers of disease from illegal imports entering the UK through ports and airports.
As part of a pilot study, the dogs will, over the next few months, be stationed at Heathrow Airport, for further on the job training. The dogs will be a first line of defence preventing and detecting illegal imports of meat at commercial and personal points of entry.
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By GlobalDataDuring their demonstration the dogs showed their expertise at finding hidden imports from a selection of luggage. Each dog is trained to search out meat, fish, and other animal products using its highly tuned sense of smell. Upon finding a smuggled item the dogs never retrieve it but wait next to the luggage or container for their handlers to remove the illegal product.
Defra added that it is also learning from the experience of other countries, such as New Zealand, who already use detector dogs to tackle illegal imports.
