Australia’s ‘top dogs’ awarded after helping intercept 45,000 items at airports, seaports
Australia’s hardest-working four-legged friends have been recognized after helping stop 45,000 high-risk items from entering Australia.
Three of Australia’s top biosecurity detection dogs helped seize more than 5000 items of risk in 2025, from cassava plants to pizza.
But it was Ghost, a labrador retriever deployed to Adelaide, who took home the gong in 2025.
With the seizure of 3,202 biosecurity risk items, Ghost was named the 2025 Biosecurity Top Dog by Agriculture Julie Collins on Thursday.
Four-year-old Ghost, along with keepers Jade and Rebecca, helped seize a number of items including nearly 7kg of fresh cassava tubers and 36 cassava plants, lotus seeds, fresh bamboo shoots, duck eggs, sesame seeds, salami and even pizza.
Four-year-old Quatro was also recognized as Australia’s Most Versatile Detection Dog.
The Brisbane-based dog spotted 1431 items, with the widest range available alongside handler Steph.
Good boy Clyde from Brisbane, with just two dog years left to his name, took the Rookie of the Year award.
In his first year on the job, Clyde and his manager Dennis made 829 detections.
Ms Collins said Australia’s good boys were “a critical part of our frontline defense against exotic pests and diseases”.
“Congratulations to Ghost, Quatro, Clyde and your executives for your incredible contributions to biosecurity in 2025,” he said.
Ms Collins said being vigilant about biosecurity was critical for trade and travel and detector dog teams were an important part of that responsibility.
“Australia’s strong biosecurity system, highly skilled biosecurity officers and detector dog teams are always on standby,” he said.
Detection dogs are deployed at ports of entry across Australia to help screen passengers, baggage, cargo and mail.
In 2025, detection dogs helped flag more than 45,000 high-risk items, potentially preventing pests and diseases from entering Australia.
More than $2 billion has been poured into biosecurity by the government since 2022, helping to fund an additional 20 detection dogs and handlers.
