Who nose what’s going on at junction 10?

You may be wondering what their professional noses could be sniffing out on a road building site, and the answer probably isn’t what you’re thinking.
Fenix the Dutch Shepherd, and Spaniels Nica and Nettle are on a mission to root out a highly invasive plant: Japanese Knotweed. The pest species can lie dormant for up to twenty years and seriously damage buildings and their substructures – not what you want when building a road.
Explaining the unique approach, Pippa Jordan, said: –

“Environment Lead on National Highways M25 J10 improvement scheme, said: “Conservation plays an important role in our construction projects. Before we start, we create a map of the area which shows nearby plant species allowing us to tackle any invasive species growing on the construction site.
In this case, we decided to put our paws on the pavement and take a unique approach to tackling the Japanese knotweed. These sniffer dogs are not only adorable, but also incredibly skilled at detecting the presence of unwanted plants, especially those not readily visible."

Allowing these species to spread in the wild is also an offense, so we welcomed Kat Janczue, the owner Canine Detection Solutions, and her furry friends to help banish the plant.

The specially trained canines completed their mission, with plenty of rest breaks for their hardworking snouts and identified several areas we’ll need to clear of Knotweed. A big thank you to Kat and her sidekicks for such a paw-some job well done!