Italy enlists dog detectives to sniff out bacteria killing olive groves

‘An invasion of alien species is damaging the cultivation of crops, fruit, vegetables and honey’

NEW weapons are being deployed in Italy’s battle against a pathogen that has wiped out millions of olive trees in the south of the country – and their names are Snoopy, Lulu and Ellis.

The dogs have been trained to sniff out Xylella fastidiosa, a bacterium transmitted by insects that has wiped out vast swathes of olive groves in Puglia, the heel of the Italian boot.

It is the first time that dogs have been used in the war on the disease, which has killed more than 20million olive trees and caused about €2 billion (£1.7billion) of economic damage as well as the loss of 5,000 jobs.

The pathogen shows no signs of slowing down, but it is hoped that the dogs will be able to detect newly infected trees before obvious signs of the affliction become visible. The trees could then be cut down in an attempt to stop the virus spreading further.

The canine task force, a group of golden retrievers, bloodhounds and springer spaniels, started training in June. They will also be deployed in ports, airports, garden centres and nurseries to try to sniff out any imported plants or soil that are infected.

“The Xylella pathogen is an environmental disaster,” said Ettore Prandini, the president of Coldiretti, the national agricultural association.

He said EU rules governing the importation of plants, crops and soil were too lax and had led to an “invasion of alien species which are damaging to the cultivation of crops, fruit, vegetables and honey”.

Dame Helen Mirren, who has a home in Puglia, has spoken out about the damage done to the region’s distinctive park-like landscape by the disease.