CROSS-STRAIT FLIGHTS: Sniffer dog hurt at Taipei airport

Personnel at Taipei Songshan Airport rush sniffer dog Dalton to National Taiwan University’s animal hospital after he was injured on the luggage carousel yesterday. PHOTO: LIU HSIN-TEH, TAIPEI TIMES

A sniffer dog was injured at Taipei Songshan Airport yesterday while sniffing luggage from the first cross-strait charter flights.

The beagle, Dalton, was on the revolving belt during a routine inspection of luggage when it fractured its front right limb. It was the first accident involving a detection dog on duty.

Instead using a newer, leaf-shaped revolving belt, which is safer, the airport still has an outdated model which creates a big gap when it turns a corner. Dalton’s front legs got caught in the gap while he was inspecting the luggage. The revolving belt ripped his skin open in an instant and blood came gushing out.

Dalton undergo surgery on Tuesday and will no longer work as a sniffer dog, Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine deputy section-chief Ko Wen-chun (葛文俊) said.

Dalton one of the country’s first detection dogs and had served since 2002, he said.

Shortly the accident yesterday, Dalton helped customs officers by sniffing out meat in one person’s baggage.

A detection dog typically serves for six years, Ko said, and Dalton, at eight-years-old, was the only dog from his class still on duty.

Apart Dalton there are 22 detection dogs with another four undergoing training, Ko said.

The Council of Agriculture said that as of 5pm yesterday, a list of agricultural products brought in by Chinese tourists included meats such as ham and pork jerky.

Fruits, vegetables and flowers were also found in their luggage, quarantine bureau deputy director Yeh Ying (葉瑩) said.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MEGGIE LU