National Park Service to use police dogs to stop wildlife smugglers

SINGAPORE: Local police dogs, believed to be experts at sniffing out smuggled wildlife at land and air borders, may also soon patrol at maritime ports. The National Parks Board (NParks) announced that the authorities may deploy dogs to strengthen anti-trafficking efforts, targeting suspicious shipments at sea.

As reported by 8world, a K9 team under NParks practices daily to hone the dogs’ skills of detecting illegal animals and plants hidden in hundreds of suitcases. Furthermore, these trained dogs have a proven track record, including a major bust at Changi Airport where they helped seize nearly 35 kilograms of rhinoceros horns.

The authorities stated that since dogs have a sense of smell that is 100,000 times more sensitive than humans, they can detect items that scanners might miss. NParks emphasised that this expansion aims to close gaps in Singapore’s borders against wildlife crime.

“Whenever we seize wildlife samples, they will be sent to the Wildlife Forensics Centre for species identification to support wildlife law enforcement,” the director of the Wildlife Trade Division of NParks declared.

This centre will match detected DNAs against genetic databases of endangered species from other nations to potentially pinpoint their possible origins. NParks stated that seized animals are usually dehydrated or infected with parasites, and will receive veterinary examination and rehabilitation care at the centre.

More so, the park authority will provide its gathered information to relevant authorities in the countries of origin to combat wildlife crime at its source. This supports a global collaboration against illegal wildlife trade.

In similar news related to smuggling, there was a report where dogs were rescued after a man was caught red-handed at a checkpoint for smuggling them.

The suspect, who was a 22-year-old man, faced 11 charges under the Animals and Birds Act and has pleaded guilty to four of them. He was sentenced to 14 weeks’ imprisonment.

Read more about the story here.