Sol the Agriculture Detection Dog: A U.S. Hero

June 17, 2023 — 

Although he's motivated by treats and can charm just about anyone, don't let this dog fool you. Sol is a highly driven beagle who plays a critical role in protecting U.S. agriculture. He is part of the Beagle Brigade and works alongside Martin Schultz, an agriculture specialist for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

"Our mission is to safeguard American agriculture, and we do so by identifying the various fruits, vegetables and meats that people are bringing into the country," Schultz explains. "We employ dogs that can track scents and have them walk around, and then that helps us to identify more of the potential pathways that the pathogens and pests could enter the country via the passenger baggage environment."

Every day at the Chicago O'Hare Airport, detector dogs and K-9 handlers work hard to protect the U.S. pork industry and all of agriculture from threats.

"The U.S. pork export industry right now is No. 1 or No. 2 in the world. The last number I looked at for last year was $7.7 billion worth of income generated for the country. And if Sol and I let in some pork that has African swine fever, it could devastate pork's export industry - and that's a lot of money lost."

Read more about Sol and the great work the Beagle Brigade and agriculture specialists at CBP do at Farm Journal's Pork

[Source: Farm Journal's Pork 8 June 2023 by Jennifer Shike]