Quarantine Detector Dog Programme

More than 320,000 people enter Hong Kong via land, sea or air every day. As such, there is an ever present threat of illegal importation of animals and birds. In order to strengthen the efforts of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) in preventing the illegal importation of animals and in enhancing public health and safety, a Quarantine Detector Dog Programme (QDDP) was established in early 2008. The use of Quarantine Detector Dogs has been shown to be an effective, internationally recognised tool for detecting and combating the smuggling of quarantine items. A trained detector dog can smell controlled items like animals including mammals, birds, reptiles, even when they are hidden in baggage or under several layers of clothing.