Customs dog candidates compete to pass their 'sniff' tests
A Labrador sniffs a suitcase to find the "object."
A Labrador, Springer, Golden Retriever and Beagle competed to become furry "customs officers" recently, Shanghai Customs said on Thursday.
Over 60 dogs of different breeds took the test, held every year, in "applying" for the supervised work position. And 33 of them passed the exam, according to customs officers.
The inspection exam was split into two parts – one static, the other dynamic.
For the static inspection, 36 boxes were displayed in a matrix on the ground, including the most common suitcases, foam boxes and cardboard boxes. The "targets" of different odor sources were hidden in them, and the more the dogs found, the higher the score they could get.
In the dynamic part, six staff members each pushed or pulled around a suitcase, simulating the scene at an inspection point. The dogs needed to find the prohibited items in the suitcase by sniffing.
Shanghai Customs' work dogs are deployed at airports, cruise and railway ports, and mail and express inspection work sites. They give full play to the role of monitoring entry and exit goods, significantly increasing the supervision efficiency.
The pandemic has put a temporary stop to the dogs' availability but they will return to work in accordance with relevant rules in the future, customs officials said.
