NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Two dogs are working with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture to sniff out an invasive pest: the spotted lanternfly.
Winnie and Marcel are two specially-trained detection dogs that have joined the department’s Plant Certification Section to inspect areas where the invasive spotted lanternfly has been reported, but not visually confirmed.
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They graduated from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Detector Dog Training Center in Georgia, which is operated by the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Plant Protection and Quarantine Program.
Marcel, who works with Kyle Web, operates out of Mt. Juliet — near Tennessee’s largest-known spotted lanternfly area. Winnie and her partner, Mary Glover, are stationed in Knoxville.
The insect-sniffing duo will be used to help clear plant shipments from nursery-producing areas if any spotted lanternflies are found nearby. Currently, they inspect retail plant dealers because the movement of infested material poses a greater risk for lanternfly spread. Already, they’ve successfully detected spotted lanternflies in Sumner County…