The Beagle Brigade

The Beagle Brigade was formed in 1984. The dogs are donated from private homes, breeders and shelters, evaluated, and any dog not selected will be placed in an adoptive home. None are returned to shelters

Merla is a prime example of the Beagle Brigade; with her droopy ears and permanent look of innocence, she resembles many people’s idea of a family pet; however, looks can be very deceptive. If you land at an American airport where she is waiting, be aware, because she isn’t interested in drugs or explosives, she leaves that sort of stuff to other, equally highly skilled operatives. Among other items he is after are your sandwiches!! Even that half-eaten sandwich that you popped into your bag, hoping to finish later, but with Merla about, later never arrives. You have been found out.

Even a half-eaten meat sandwich can get you into trouble when entering the USA, causing delays to your travel arrangements. You wouldn’t think that an innocent sarnie could bring you into conflict with the authorities, but if Merla or any of the 120-plus canines that make up the Beagle Brigade are present, your visit might not be what you expect. So football fans who are heading that way soon, be warned, these dogs are some of the best in the world. Their detection rate is phenomenal, and they are present at most international airports.

These highly trained canines are there to discover illegal agricultural and animal products that may contain harmful diseases.

A prime example.

To a human, one bag looks and even smells just like another; however, to Merla, it’s not about the visual, just the smell, which is why she indicated the presence of contraband. Her handlers checked and discovered 100 meat sandwiches.

Not sure how the travellers could explain that they were for personal use, who the heck can even eat 100 meat sandwiches before the bread goes stale? Despite just being nothing special and all in a day’s work, for this particular find, she received what her handlers refer to as the Jackpot Reward, which is a combination of various favourite treats. These dogs work eight to ten-hour shifts, although they have comfort breaks, water breaks and frequent naps.  Not content with that, by the time Merla had completed her shift, she had discovered beef sausages from Kenya, pork believed to originate in Serbia, pork sausages and burgers from Japan, millet from India, plant roots from Tanzania, beef sandwiches from Lebanon and a forgotten half-eaten sandwich of dubious origin. Those damned sandwiches again!

The advantage of the Beagle is that, apart from being great detection dogs, most passengers think that they are quite cute and are not threatening, which allows them to mingle with the passengers without being intimidating.

Freddie’s ordeal

Unfortunately, there is always going to be one entitled individual.

Just in case anyone is thinking that striking one of the Beagle Brigade to deter it from showing interest, take note of what happened to one smuggler. This particular traveller, a 70-year-old man who had arrived from Egypt, took exception to having one of the Beagle Brigade sniffing his luggage and kicked the dog, which goes by the name of Freddie. He kicked Freddie so hard that he was completely lifted off the ground. The assailant was immediately arrested and charged with wilfully and maliciously harming a police animal. Freddie needed to be taken to be examined by a veterinary surgeon and was found to have suffered contusions to his rib cage area, whereupon the veterinarian prescribed rest and mild pain relief.

The man’s total stash of illicit goods consisted of 55 pounds of beef, 44 pounds of rice, 15 pounds of vegetables, corn seeds and herbs. To have that amount of luggage needed to attempt to smuggle in that quantity of banned products alone was enough to draw attention to himself. It was all confiscated. For a quick resolution he had to pay the $840 vet bill  and he was returned to Egypt, personally I think he got away far too lightly.

For this, think of you with a special interest in the different products that certain dogs can identify, along with the standard beef and pork products, Freddie can also identify Cane rat, pigeon, camel and snake. Cane rat?? A new one on me. These creatures are enormous, weighing up to 10 kilos (22 pounds). They are indigenous to Sub-Saharan Africa; crop farmers hate them, and others breed them for their meat.

You will be pleased to know that Freddie made a complete recovery and returned to duty.