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Max the BeagleMason the Beagle

The Beagle's white-tipped tail is like a high-speed windscreen wiper as Max excitedly sniffs amongst the airport baggage. He puts his nose to each bag for less than a second, searching for prohibited fruit, meat, or plant material. The Beagle's handler, questions an incoming passenger who has overlooked an apple bought in Singapore, and Max sniffs out a puzzled Australian backpacker who then remembers that she had a banana in her pack over a week ago: Max misses nothing.

New Zealand's Dog Detector Programme which maintains biosecurity at our borders is world renown and second to none. After all, if a mango infested fruit fly or meat infected with foot-and-mouth get past Max, then our economy could be brought to its knees.

Spectrum's Jack Perkins follows the action at Wellington airport with Max, his team mate Mason, and handlers Andrew Hall and Lisa Speight.