DOGGED DETECTORS BOW OUT OF BORDER FORCE
AFTER a stellar career locating drug cash, narcotics and weapons while on patrol across the Far North, two of the hardest working detector dogs to grace the Australian Border Force (ABF) Cairns headquarters have retired – one on his ninth birthday.
Now detector dogs Angus, 9, and Tommy, 8, have hung up their harnesses, the most urgent mission the highlytrained labradors will face involve tummy rubs, morning walks, treats and constant playtime.
Last week Angus enjoyed a special birthday cake baked by his handler, Far North Queensland Dog Detection Unit team leader Natalie Cross to celebrate his retirement.
Ms Cross has been a dog handler since 2016 and said working with the canine duo has been a wonderful experience.
“Angus is a cash and firearms detector dog and has more than 63 firearms seizures,” Ms Cross said.
“He has helped us locate many items including drug cash hidden in ceilings.
“Angus has been an incredible part of our team and we will really miss him.”
Ms Cross said her other detector dog Tommy who specialised in locating narcotics was also ready to retire.
“I have worked with Tommy for five years. I will miss him,” she said.
While Tommy is being adopted by a former police dog unit technical officer in Brisbane, Angus will stay in Cairns.
Ms Cross’s new canine partner has already been assigned.
“This weekend I (received) my new dog Whisky. We will start bonding right away,” she said.
She said ABF detector dogs were trained to detect narcotics, firearms, currency, tobacco and explosives and provide a complimentary skill set alongside the intuition of our officers and technologies such as x-ray and trace particle detection.