Puppy Patrol at Vancouver Airport keeps birds away from incoming planes

The Vancouver International Airport is trying out a technique to keep birds away from its airfield.

Puppy patrol.

All airports know about the problems birds cause when they fly too close to airplanes. You may remember this story about a snowy owl stopping traffic and creating havoc and the New York Port Authority having to bring in hunters to disperse birds from its airfields.

Critter versus critter is the tactic Vancouver’s airport is using. A new border collie Flight is now in training to take over from Chase, her predecessor who has been keeping the airfields bird-free for the last 10 years.

Flight’s trainer Lynn Leach said a dog doing this kind of job has to have specific skills.

“We needed a dog that was not stubborn and wanted to please me.

Flight already has most of the skills but Leach said she wants to keep training her for another six months to a year to ensure the border collie can do her job of chasing birds away and still stay safe from other potential problems.

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Peg Fong is also in recovery from newspapers

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