Dog guards vs entry of pork with swine flu in Cebu

Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Thu, 03 Oct 2019 08:13:45 +0000

GOLDEN Retriever ‘Poochie,’ with his handler Christopherson Bitoy of the Philippine Coast Guard, shows how he detects pork inside packages at the PCG Visayas district office in Cebu City. Poochie will be deployed to ports to guard against the entry of pork products in Cebu with suspected African Swine Fever. (Juan Carlo de Vela)

CEBU CITY – “Poochie,” an 18-month-old male Golden Retriever, will help authorities ensure that pork and pork-related products coming from areas affected by African Swine Fever will not be able to enter Cebu.

After more than two months of training, Poochie showed his capability to detect packages containing pork and pork-related products when he was presented to the media at the Philippine Coast Guard-Central Visayas headquarters here yesterday.

During the presentation, Poochie sniffed through several boxes that had been lined up until he sat on a package containing pork.

“When he detects the presence of pork, he either sits, wags his tail, or there is head jerk. The handler and the dog have developed a certain communication that allows the trainer to also detect the presence of pork through the dog’s body language,” said canine trainer Seaman Second Class Kristofferson Bitoy.

Although the training is scheduled for one year, Poochie is already fit for deployment.

“He will be randomly deployed in seaports or terminals. He can work for at least four hours daily,” Encina said.

Poochie is originally a drug-sniffing canine
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