The Beagle Brigade, a special unit of passively trained detector dogs, sniff out prohibited fruits and meat in baggage arriving from overseas. Why worry about fruit and meat? Just one orange carried by a traveler may have introduced the Mediterranean fruit fly to California in 1980. This pest cost the state and USDA more than $100 million before it was eradicated.
The beagles not only assist in detecting prohibited items, they also allow USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to conduct searches in a non-threatening manner. The Beagle Brigade teams also serve as goodwill ambassadors, educating the public about USDA in schools and at fairs.
On average, APHIS officers, including the Beagle Brigade, make about 2 million interceptions of illegal agricultural products every year. Busy international airports like those in New York, Miami, Dallas and Los Angeles are where most of the agricultural products are found.
USDA established its detector dog program in 1984 at the Los Angeles International Airport. Around 1987, APHIS opened three regional training center and began training teams for the Beagle Brigade. Now, the Beagle Brigade has more than 50 teams at 21 international airports. Plans are being made to launch a program along the U.S.-Mexican border and to expand use of detector dogs in postal facilities.
Working Beagle Brigade dogs wear distinctive green jackets with "Protecting American Agriculture" on one side and "Agriculture's Beagle Brigade" on the other. After six months to one year of experience, beagles sniff out prohibited material correctly 80 percent of the time. Their success rate rises to about 90 percent after two years' experience. Typically, a Beagle Brigade dog's career spans 6 to 10 years.
At airports, the dog sniffs each piece of luggage, and sits when it recognizes an odor. Smugglers can be fined up to $250 on the spot if contraband is found.
The Beagle Brigade has been recognized twice by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as airport ambassadors for outstanding customer service. The Pedigree All Star Hall of Fame inducted USDA's Beagle Brigade into the National Dog Museum in St. Louis, MO, as the outstanding service program in 1993.
Snoopy isn't the only celebrity beagle. The USDA has its own team of heros that work to protect
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