Dogs sniff out meat smugglers

The dogs are trained to detect meat in luggage

The latest breed of sniffer dogs are due on duty to catch anyone bringing illegal meat into the UK.

Samos and Heskey, both one-year-old Labradors who will be based at Heathrow Airport, are the first dogs trained to detect meat, along with fish and other animal products, in luggage.

They are part of the government's strategy to cut the risk of animal diseases getting into the country.

The move comes after the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) declaring the source of last year's foot-and-mouth virus was probably imported meat.

'Inadequate measure'

Spot checks on passengers luggage have been few and far between but when they have been carried out they have turned up more than 5,000 kilos of illegal meat.

Samos and Heskey are part of a pilot project which, if successful, could result in more detector dogs for illegal meat imports.

But some groups say the measures do not go far enough.

Martin Haworth, from the National Farmers Union, said: "If we did as much as Australia we'd need 200 dogs so that just gives you a measure of how inadequate this is.

"Of course this is just the first response form the government so we hope they'll do more but it's rather late."

'Effective tool'

The NFU wants more inspectors and resources to crack down on illegal meat.

Earlier this month the government launched a campaign called Don't Bring Back More Than You Bargained.

Alison Reeves, from the Defra, said: "The dogs are part of raising the awareness of the campaign as well as being an effective tool for raising prevention and detection rates on illegal imports."

The dogs took part in a passing out parade on Tuesday after completing their initial training at the Metropolitan Police Dog Training Centre, Keston, near Bromley, Kent.