A dog’s acute sense of smell makes it the farmer’s best friend and the community’s first defence against pets and diseases.
The Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association (TFGA) today welcomed the addition of more sniffers to the frontline of the state’s biosecurity protection system.
“These dogs are focused; they won’t be deterred or distracted; they save this island millions of dollars in the potential damage from introduced pests and diseases,” TFGA chief executive Peter Skillern said today.
He said people tended to underestimate the value of dogs to Tasmania’s biosecurity.
“Their brain is smaller but the part of it that controls smell is 40 times larger than ours,” he said. “A dog’s sense of smell is between 1000 and 10 million times more sensitive than a human’s. Once they are trained, nothing gets past them.”
Mr Skillern was commenting on the state government’s announcement that it would invest another $2 million to increase frontline biosecurity with more detector dog teams to protect the island.
“Farmers have always believed it is imperative that we monitor every flight, every arrival if we are to protect premium Tasmanian produce from introduced pests and diseases,” Mr Skillern said.
“If we lose our pristine status, we lose our reputation; we lose our brand; we lose our markets.
“Our fate lies in the noses of these dogs and we should never forget it.”
TFGA chief executive Peter Skillern
