{"id":245785,"date":"2019-10-11T15:05:31","date_gmt":"2019-10-11T05:05:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=245785"},"modified":"2020-09-20T11:21:17","modified_gmt":"2020-09-20T01:21:17","slug":"suki-to-sniff-out-illegal-pork","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/10\/11\/suki-to-sniff-out-illegal-pork\/","title":{"rendered":"Suki To Sniff Out Illegal Pork"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Biosecurity sniffer dog Suki
(Photo: Department of Agriculture)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

October 11, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

A detector dog has been stationed at Darwin Airport to help screen international passengers and cargo in a bid to stop African swine fever from entering Australia.<\/p>\n

Suki is an experienced biosecurity Labrador which has been transferred from Norfolk Island to reinforce prevention measures at Darwin.<\/p>\n

Northern Territory Senator Dr Sam McMahon, a former vet, said Suki was a vital part of Australia\u2019s defence against damaging biosecurity threats.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfrican swine fever has the potential to kill a quarter of the world\u2019s pig herd by the end of the year so we\u2019ve ramped up inspections at airports and sea ports,\u201d Senator McMahon said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why when the risk profile for Darwin changed, a detector dog was deployed.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuki is an experienced and highly trained detector dog who has found more than 6800 biosecurity risk items in her career including sniffing out 300 meat items just last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government is doing its part, but we need everyone travelling through our airports and posting packages from overseas to do the right thing and be alert to the serious risks posed by this disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d encourage all Australians to talk to family overseas to help them help us all by not sending pork products.\u201d<\/p>\n

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