Sniffing out contraband, canines earn their keep

An intern trainer interacts with a beagle during a training session.

More species intercepted at the Chinese border

Inspection and quarantine authorities in China intercepted more than 16,000 shipments of harmful species and stopped them from entering China in the first quarter of this year, an increase of nearly 90 percent compared with the same period last year, according to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

The species - found in luggage carried by passengers or mailed in parcels - were among the nearly 130,000 animals, plants and their products banned from entry into China, said Li Jing, spokeswoman for the administration.

In addition, inspection authorities intercepted 3,043 shipments of harmful species when inspecting imported agricultural products in the first quarter, she said.

Most of the intercepted species were weeds and insects, Li said.

The species were mostly from China's main trading partners, such as the United States, Kazakhstan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Thailand, she said.

All the parcels containing harmful species were properly treated, sent back to their original countries or destroyed to prevent the spread of disease, she said.