SEATAC, Wash. — U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agriculture Specialists seized a shipment of yak skulls late last month at Sea-Tac Airport.
Agents said that on April 30, while sniffing passenger baggage from a flight arriving from Japan, agriculture detector K-9 Woody pointed officers to a large duffel bag.
Beagles, such as Woody, and breeds such as Labradors are selected for use by customs because of their strong sense of smell and their gentle nature with people, agents said.
Upon inspection of the bag, four yak skulls were discovered. The yak, Bos grunniens, is a large long-haired wild or domesticated ox native to Tibet and adjacent high elevation areas of central Asia, a customs news release said.
The owner of the duffel bag said he had found two of the skulls while hiking in Tibet and purchased the other two in a nearby village store.
The two skulls found while hiking still had dried hide and flesh attached. The skulls were seized and destroyed to prevent the introduction of animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease into the United States.
According to USDA, foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious viral disease of cattle and swine that has been eradicated in the U.S. since 1929.
A foot-and-mouth outbreak in the U.S. could devastate the livestock industry with the potential for millions of head of livestock being destroyed, customs officials said.