Aussie pair leave to sniff out trouble in Tokyo: [1 All-round Country Edition]
Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 12 Dec 2005: 5.
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Abstract
The former strays, now worth tens of thousands of dollars each, will be at the front line of Japan’s fight to stop the spread of avian flu. Japanese quarantine officers have spent the past two months in Australia working with the dogs. Cleo and Candy will be looking for birds, bird eggs, bird products and any other items that could harbour avian flu.
The dog’s former custodian, national trainer of quarantine detector dogs for the federal Government, Steve Austin, said the pair would be the first quarantine dogs ever used in Japan.
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CLEO and Candy, in common with thousands of young Australians every year, left home on Saturday for their first overseas trip. Unlike most teenage backpackers, however, this pair will be looking for trouble.
The beagles flew to Tokyo’s Narita airport, destined to become Japan’s first sniffer dogs.
The former strays, now worth tens of thousands of dollars each, will be at the front line of Japan’s fight to stop the spread of avian flu. Japanese quarantine officers have spent the past two months in Australia working with the dogs. Cleo and Candy will be looking for birds, bird eggs, bird products and any other items that could harbour avian flu.
The dog’s former custodian, national trainer of quarantine detector dogs for the federal Government, Steve Austin, said the pair would be the first quarantine dogs ever used in Japan.
“They are lovely dogs, they have a beautiful temperament,” Mr Austin said of his charges.
“What has helped the Japanese discover the beauty of beagles is the fact that avian flu is spreading rapidly across Asia and they are desperate to stop it.
“Asian governments are waking up to the fact that dogs are reliable, easy to transport and their detection prowess is second to none.”
Mr Austin said the project was not just about training and selling the dogs, but training their handlers and the dogs together.
This has taken place on-site at Hanrob Pet Care Centre at Heathcote in Sydney, one of Australia’s biggest boarding and training facilities.
Cleo and Candy have been trained by teaching them to associate a particular odour with a pleasant experience — a little treat of dried liver every time they sit next to a suspect package.
Recent tests conducted by the NSW Police Dog Squad showed the dogs passed with a 100 per cent success rate in finding their target odours.
“This is potentially a very big growth industry for Australia,” Mr Austin said. “It is possible that in the future you could see Australiandogs at Asian airports sniffing out any Australians stupid enough to smuggle drugs.”