Amazing Freya helps to find protected newts!

Working dogs help us in so many ways, from invaluable detection, sniffing out all kinds of dangerous substances, to rescuing injured people. But did you know there’s a dog who can sniff out newts?

Three-year-old Springer Spaniel Freya has been trained to identify a rare amphibian, the Great Crested Newt. She puts her sniffing skills to use by assisting workers from the utility company Wessex Water when they are carrying out construction works.

The region the company excavates in is home to these protected newts, and Freya finds them quickly and non-invasively: a real benefit to both the speed of the work, and preservation of the newts.

Together with her professional handler, Freya helps seek out this nocturnal species of newt so that they remain unharmed and in their natural environment. Freya loves her work, and has a strong bond with her trainer.

Read more about Freya in Wessex Water’s winter 2018 magazine here.

(Photos in article courtesy of Nick Upton)