The Beagle Brigade K-9 team at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) has proved to be a force to be reckoned with after its has sniffed out people who attempt to sneak in bio-terror threats.
One of the members of the brigade is Yodel, a rescue dog who has been trained to sense items used for bio-terror which include contraband, money, pests and unlawful wildlife.
"They can actually detect anything at a huge distance, he can grab things off the carousel and it will take him halfway around, but he can pick it up over there and we are over here," said Nancy Withrow, an agriculture specialist K9 handler, according to ABC 13 Eyewitness News.
Bio-terrorism can include pesticides that are smuggled in with the intention of damaging the agriculture industry.
"People don't realize that a single orange, a plant cutting, they can do major damage, millions of dollars," said officer Jill Chen, another handler, according to ABC 7 News.
If the time comes for Yodel to hang up his collar, Chen says, "He's going to come home with my kids. He is going to be part of my family. He is a family member."
The Beagle Brigade was first created in 1984 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture at LAX. Beagles were chosen mainly for their intense sense of smell. They have roughly about 220 million more scent receptors than humans do, according to Breitbart.
