Nothing but a hound dog – and custom made

By Shaun Inguanzo
OVERSEAS gifts containing meats, plants, produce, eggs and other disease-carrying items will be seized at airports, customs officials have warned.
The strong message was delivered to Springvale’s Asian community last week when Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) officers spoke to the Springvale Mandarin Support Group about what relatives could or could not bring or send into the country.
AQIS officer and sniffer dog handler Linda Spiteri said overseas relatives often visited Springvale’s Asian for the holiday season, and with them often came gifts.
But foodstuffs containing fruit, vegetables, eggs, meat, poultry, along with other items such as plants, could not be transported into Australia under strict quarantine laws, she said.
“They will end up being seized,” Ms Spiteri said.
“Also, pine cones are prohibited – a lot of people make Christmas wreaths using pine cones, but they contain seeds.
“You also can’t bring cheeses and pate.”
Ms Spiteri said the contraband items were susceptible to carrying a variety of diseases including bird flu, Newcastle disease, and noxious weeds and plants.
To help reinforce the message in a non-threatening way, Ms Spiteri brought sniffer dog Annie, a beagle, to the public talk.
Annie may look cute, but she is one of AQIS’ most powerful weapons in the battle to keep Australia quarantined from harmful diseases, pest animals and plants.
“Because they’re hound dogs, Beagles have great noses to detect scents,” she said. “They’re also not intimidating at airports.”
Ms Spiteri said average seizure figures for a team consisting of one handler and dog at Melbourne airport on a monthly basis included 33 kilograms of fruit and nine kilograms of meat.