fbpx
Print this page
Thursday, 12 November 2015 11:30

20 years for biosecurity detector dog programme

Written by 
Ministers Nathan Guy, Jo Goodhew and Steven Joyce attended cutting the birthday cake. Ministers Nathan Guy, Jo Goodhew and Steven Joyce attended cutting the birthday cake.

MPI celebrates 20 years since the birth of its biosecurity detector dog programme with a giant cake at the Christchurch A&P Show today.

The birthday event took place 10am at the MPI stand. Ministers Nathan Guy, Jo Goodhew and Steven Joyce attended, along with two biosecurity detector dogs.

MPI purchased the first beagles in 1995. Two of them started at Auckland airport soon after.

"Detector dogs have proven themselves as a very effective biosecurity tool for keeping New Zealand free of pests and diseases potentially carried by arriving international passengers and mail," says MPI border clearance director Steve Gilbert.

"They can pick up seeds and plants that can be hard to detect by x-ray. They also screen people faster than x-ray, and their visual presence sends a message to arriving passengers about how seriously New Zealand takes biosecurity."

He says 2015 is a big year for the MPI detector dog programme.

"We're gearing up with extra detector dog power for a busy summer – both in terms of passenger numbers and the heightened risk of fruit fly, due to outbreaks in Australia and other parts of the Pacific.

"We will have 24 new dog teams graduate from their training in December. This will be the largest number of dog teams to graduate at any one time in the history of MPI or its predecessors.

"The new detector dog capacity will allow us to screen all international flights arriving in New Zealand. So we've come a long way since our humble beginnings in Auckland 20 years ago."

More like this

Farmers struggle with water and feed shortages

The drought in western parts of the North Island is reaching crisis point with many farmers from Northland to Taranaki having to truck in water and feed for their stock at great expense.

East Coast Expo delivers two action-packed days of events

The recent East Coast Farming Expo, held over two days at Wairoa, offered an insight into the current state of agriculture on the east of the North Island, at a time when the locals are remembering the second anniversary of Cyclone Gabrielle.

Featured

Rain misses Taranaki region

The 'atmospheric river' of rain that swept down the country last week almost completely avoided one of the worst drought-affected regions in the country – coastal Taranaki.

National

Machinery & Products

Buhler name to go

Shareholders at a special meeting have approved a proposed deal that will see Buhler Industries, the publicly traded Versatile and…

Grabbing bales made quick and easy

Front end loader and implement specialist Quicke has introduced the new Unigrip L+ and XL+ next-generation bale grabs, designed for…