Detector dog teams operate at key entry points across the country, including international airports, seaports and mail centres. They are a critical part of Australia’s biosecurity system, helping to stop potential threats before they can enter the country.
Every day, highly trained detector dogs and their handlers search luggage and parcels to identify high‑risk biosecurity items such as meat products, dairy, eggs and other animal materials that may carry serious diseases. These items can harbour pathogens including foot‑and‑mouth disease, African swine fever and avian influenza, which are not present in Australia but pose a constant global threat.
With millions of travellers and consignments entering Australia each year, detector dogs provide a fast and accurate screening capability. When emerging threats are identified, detector dog teams can be rapidly deployed to increase screening activities across a range of environments, demonstrating their adaptability and versatility.
By intercepting undeclared and high‑risk items at the border, detector dogs form a vital frontline defence in Australia’s biosecurity system. Their work helps protect livestock, wildlife, farmers and the broader economy from potentially devastating disease outbreaks that could have long‑lasting impacts across Australia.
This month’s video features insights from Australia’s Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr Beth Cookson, who highlights how biosecurity detector dog teams play an essential role in preventing serious animal diseases from entering the country.
Hi, I'm Beth Cookson, the Australian Chief Veterinary officer. It's a pleasure to be here today talking about Australia's biosecurity detector dog program.
Slide: Why are biosecurity controls, and particularly detector dogs, important for Australia’s animal biosecurity?
Australia is free of some of the world's worst animal diseases, like foot-and-mouth disease, African swine fever and highly pathogenic avian influenza H5n1 strain. Animal pests and diseases like these are a major threat to Australia's livestock industries and livelihoods. Exotic wildlife diseases can affect the health of our native animals, and some of these diseases can also be zoonotic and affect human health. Detector dogs and their teams work to identify products that could harbor these pests and diseases, protecting animal health, biodiversity, and human health.
Slide: What is foot-and-mouth disease?
Foot and mouth disease is a severe and highly contagious viral disease that affects all cloven-hoofed animals, including cattle, sheep, camelids, deer and pigs. An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease can have severe consequences on our trade, livelihoods and tourism.
Slide: How has Australia responded to outbreaks in neighbouring countries?
When an outbreak occurred in a neighbouring country, Australia stepped up its border measures, increasing screening and deploying detector dogs at key points of entry to prevent an incursion. This included the introduction of non-shelf stable dairy products as a new detector dog odour and redeploying detector dogs and their teams to screen travellers and their luggage at the baggage carousels.
Slide: What role do detector dogs play in our responses to biosecurity risks?
Detector dogs are mobile, they're adaptable and they're versatile. This means that they can be quickly redeployed to new locations or to detect new threats. Biosecurity detector dogs really are very remarkable in that they can target up to 200 different biosecurity risk commodities, including meat products, dairy, eggs and even queen bees.
Slide: How are biosecurity detector dogs deployed today?
Biosecurity detector dogs are deployed around the country at international mail centers, seaports, and airports. This is a really essential part of our screening tools to protect Australia from important pests and diseases like foot-and-mouth disease, African swine fever and highly pathogenic avian influenza.
