U.S. Representatives Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D-GA-02), Drew Ferguson (R-GA-03), Dan Kildee (D-MI-08), and Adrian Smith (R-NE-03) along with U.S. Senators Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) introduced the Beagle Brigade Act of 2023 in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. These bipartisan bills would provide permanent authorization for the National Detector Dog Training Center, located in Newnan, Ga.
The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) applauds the reintroduction of the Beagle Brigade Act of 2023 and says this legislation would provide congressional authority to the USDA’s National Detector Dog Training Center — a vital program in training agricultural canine teams that work daily to prevent foreign animal and plant diseases from entering the U.S.
“Beagles are our first line of defense in protecting the U.S. from foreign animal diseases,” says Kelly Cushman, NPPC Vice President of Domestic Policy. “We traveled to the canine training center in Georgia in January to observe the Beagle Brigade in action. It’s incredible how extensively they are trained to detect even the smallest piece of a prohibited item. From a stack of suitcases piled high, we watched them alert to a small piece of pepperoni on a slice of pizza. Later, we went to the Hartsfield Jackson Airport and saw what the beagles had discovered in just an hour -- a table full of prohibited items. It was remarkable.”
The “Beagle Brigade” is critical in keeping foreign animal diseases, like African swine fever (ASF), out of the country. NPPC led over 50 agricultural and other organizations in supporting the Beagle Brigade Act’s reintroduction and urges Congress to pass this bipartisan bill.
“Safe and reliable food production is critical to the United States’ continued national and economic security,” Terry Wolters, NPPC president and owner of Stoney Creek Farms in Pipestone, Minn., said in a release. “As ASF continues to plague the Dominican Republic and Haiti, strengthening early detection capabilities at our U.S. borders is more important than ever.”
The beagles were highlighted and praised during a session on international lessons learned about ASF at the National Pork Industry Forum in Orlando, Fla.
“We urge Congress to act fast and we thank Representatives Sandford Bishop (D-GA) and Drew Ferguson (R-GA) in the House and Senators Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) in the Senate for their bipartisan efforts,” Wolters added.
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