A cute new addition to the Department of Fish and Wildlife is helping protect Washington’s waterways.
Puddles, a two-year-old Jack Russell Terrier mix, joined the WDFW back in April of 2019, and she’s making a big difference for the state.
“She can smell about 40 times better than a human scent,” WDFW Sergeant Pam Taylor said. Puddles can sniff out Zebra and Quagga Mussels before they’ve grown large enough for human inspectors to see with the naked eye, which is the only way they could be found before. She’s faster too, taking just seconds to inspect each boat, and adding a friendly face to the inspection site. “Everybody loves a dog, and she’s kind of, you know, kind of the little barky voice for aquatic invasive species, and we’re trying to, you know, get people to pay attention to our message, which is to, you know, keep your boats clean, drained and dried,” Sergeant Taylor said. The department’s message is an important one as Washington is one of the only states left that has not tested positive for the invasive species. “With as many watercraft as we’ve had coming into the state with mussels already this year, it has us wondering, you know, what are we missing?” Said Sergeant Taylor. With only two check station in the state, and more than 27,000 boats already entering Washington this year, every inspection counts. It only takes one infested boat to wreak havoc on our waterways. “Economically, it would be devastating, you know, Washington is an agricultural-based state, we’re trying to protect the Columbia River, the hydro electric dam systems, with all of the cost of cleaning all of that out, would be, you know, in the hundreds of millions of dollars,” Sergeant Taylor said, which is why it was so important for the state to add a dog to the team. Puddles is the only mussel-sniffing dog in Washington, and she was handpicked for the job out of a shelter in Fresno, California. She caught the attention of Green Dog Project‘s “Rescued for a Reason” program and they began training her to be a working dog. A grant from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation helped bring her to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. “We didn’t buy her, she was a rescue dog, I mean we did have to pay money for training and whatnot, but the fact that you know natural resource agencies go out of their way to rescue shelter dogs and put them to work, you know dogs that nobody wanted for whatever reason,” Sergeant Taylor said, adding that Puddles is missing part of her ear after a fight in her shelter. She began mussel-sniffing training with stitches in her ear. Puddle’s new job is giving her a second chance at life. As for Sergeant Taylor, who takes Puddles home with her, it’s been life-changing too. “I always have someone to talk to who loves me, you know she’s friendly, she’s just, she’s a great companion, she’s kind of a motivator,” Sergeant Taylor said. If you are transporting watercraft from outside Washington state, there’s a good chance that even if you’ve cleaned, drained and dried your boat, the watercraft could still be carrying invasive species. In this case, the WDFW recommends that you call the state’s aquatic invasive species hotline (1-888-WDFW-AIS). Be prepared to let the state know where you used your boat and whether you decontaminated the watercraft before you left the area. In some cases, WDFW will require a free intensive decontamination upon entry into Washington. It is illegal to transport or spread aquatic invasive species and violators can face a maximum penalty of a year in jail and $5,000 in fines.
