Ibarra, R. (2023, January 24). California to expand pest-detecting dog teams with $4 million in federal funding. CapRadio. Retrieved January 30, 2023, from https://www.capradio.org/articles/2023/01/24/california-to-expand-pest-detecting-dog-teams-with-4-million-in-federal-funding/
The California state government has donated four million dollars to expand its pest detection dog teams. The Department of Agriculture has recently announced their plans to give money to future pest prevention. The dog teams sniff out and alert packages that contain different agricultural products, allowing handlers to check the packages for invasive bugs or flies that may be traveling with the food.
Once a dog is selected to be a detection dog, they are placed with a handler and sent to a ten week training program. After they’ve completed the program, the dogs are sent to various mail companies, such as FedEx, UPS, and Ontrak. There, they sniff for plants, fruit, and soil, and alert their handler by scratching three times. Once a dog alerts, a trained botanist will inspect the package for invasive or harmful species. The funding for the dog teams comes from a push from the USDA for greater pest control infrastructure. These plans seek to protect American farmers and ecosystems from invasive species entering California.
I think the use of detection dogs as a method of pest control is an important way to protect California’s ecosystems and crops. By using dogs to prevent the introduction of new pests, we can focus on the pest problems currently in California rather than fighting new pests. Dog detection teams are also sustainable, and some dogs are rescued from shelters to be put in the program. While I think this program is a positive good, I do wonder about the productivity of sniffing every package. Will the dogs be able to sniff through every single package that comes into California? Does it make sense to check every food package coming through the state border? So while there are some questions to consider, I think using detection dogs is a good, environmentally friendly way of pest prevention.
I agree with you that dogs are a great new solution to pest management. I like how you also consider the negatives and questions of implementing the dogs. Are there any other methods of pest control that may have less drawbacks that you know of?
Thanks for reading! There are so many different methods of pest control, I am not sure I could pinpoint just one. But from reading different articles, I have found that sustainable farmers are using natural predation to control pests, which seems beneficial.
It is very interesting that an alternative being used now is for dogs to clear out and help out with pest management. I’ve heard of cats managing the cycle of the wild life but not dogs, so it is very interesting.
Thanks for reading! Yeah i’ve found that there are a lot of ways to control pests using other animals. Cats are a great pest control for rats, dogs are great at sniffing out food that might contain pests. Everyday animals seem to be a real asset.