Australia’s hardest working four-legged friends have been recognised after helping stop 45,000 high-risk items entering Australia.
Three of Australia’s top biosecurity detection dogs helped intercept more than 5000 risk items in 2025, ranging from cassava plants to pizza.
However, it was Ghost, a labrador retriever deployed to Adelaide, who took home the gong for 2025.
With a whopping 3202 biosecurity risk items intercepted, Ghost was named by Agriculture Julie Collins on Thursday as the 2025 Biosecurity Top Dog.
Ghost, four, alongside handlers Jade and Rebecca, helped intercept a range of items, including almost 7kgs 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 recognised as Australia’s Most Versatile detection dog.
Alongside handler Steph, the Brisbane-based pooch detected 1431 items, with the widest range in commodities.
With only two dog years to his name, fellow Brisbane-based good boy Clyde took home Rookie of the Year.
In just his first year on the job, Clyde was credited with 829 detections alongside his handler, Dennis.
Ms Collins said Australia’s good boys were a “critical part of our frontline defence against exotic pests and diseases”.
“Congratulations to Ghost, Quatro and Clyde and your handlers for your amazing contribution to biosecurity in 2025,” she said.
Maintaining biosecurity vigilance was critical to trade and travel, with detector dog teams a key part of that responsibility, Ms Collins said.
“Australia’s strong biosecurity system, its highly skilled biosecurity officers and detector dog teams are always at the ready,” she said.
Detection dogs are deployed to ports of entry across Australia, helping scan travellers, luggage, cargo, and mail.
In 2025, detection dogs helped flagged more than 45,000 high-risk items, potentially preventing pests and disease from entering Australia.
More than $2bn has been delivered to biosecurity by the government since 2022, which has helped fund an additional 20 detection dogs and handlers.
