Bailey-maritime-dog wearing lifejacket

Love Dogs But Hate Seagulls? Then You Have To Meet Bailey The Seagull Security Dog

John Konrad
Total Views: 64
August 25, 2016

Watch out, seagulls, I’m on your case! Image: Andrew Frolows / ANMM

Two things most mariners have in common; they think of their pups as fellow mariners but consider seagulls to be little more than rats with wings. That may be why Australian National Maritime Museum recently hired its recruit Bailey, the seagull security dog.

The border collie was enlisted in May to help the maritime museum keep seagulls away from the exhibits which include a stunning Australian-built replica of James Cook’s HMB Endeavour and the HMAS Vampire, which is they boast as the last of the big gunships.

“Normally when there are seagulls down here, Bailey will spot them and I’ll let him off the lead and I’ll say, ‘Bailey go’,” said Adrian Snelling, dog handler and head of security. “He just automatically chases the birds.

The museum says they decided to get Bailey, who was a working dog living in foster care, after researching that dogs were routinely used in airports to scare away birds. And like all modern mariners he must follow the museum’s safety directives by donning proper PPE. “He wears a dog flotation device, the same as what any human would wear on a boat,” Mr Snelling said.

Via iheartdogs

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