After a four-year career that saw him uncover contraband tobacco, drugs and more than half a million euros in undeclared cash, Peter the customs sniffer dog, is enjoying retirement.

The seven-year-old Irish Cocker Spaniel’s harness has been packed away and he spends his days enjoying belly rubs instead of helping to fight crime at Malta International Airport.

But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t like to show off his skills.

“We can either make him find this cigar or one of his favourite toys,” his new owner tells Times of Malta during a recent visit to meet the one-time winner of an Animal in Uniform award.

Sitting patiently on his bed, Peter is put to the test. He sniffs the cigar and waits while his owner places it in another room under an artificial plant.

“Find Peter find!”

After sniffing in the kitchen, dining room and sitting room, it isn’t long until Peter finds what he was looking for, sits next to the plant and waits for his reward – a fuzzy yellow tennis ball.

Peter sniffed out an impressive 84 hits in his career – a rate of almost two finds a month. Around a third were related to cash seizures and he has detected a total of €598,859 in undeclared cash.

His biggest hit involved intercepting €33,164 at the airport. He also sniffed out 150kg of tobacco and detected three narcotics cases – one cannabis and two cocaine seizures.

Back in 2019, his name also hit the international headlines when The Guardian reported a claim that one of his finds was linked to the ultimate arrest of the alleged middleman in the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder case. The story of Peter’s alleged role was never confirmed.

‘Peter picked me’

During his strenuous career, Peter committed just one crime – stealing the heart of his handler. 

“Peter spent half an hour looking at me, our eyes locked,” said his handler, whose name cannot be revealed for security reasons.

“Eventually, when I joined the section and the trainer asked me which dog I wanted, without any doubt, I told them Peter picked me, not the other way around.”

After a three-month training period and spending time together to strengthen their bond, Peter and his handler got to work.

“The work we do is more of a passion, if you don’t like dogs, you cannot do this sort of work,” he explained.

Customs dogs are not merely tools but are important members of the unit. An item furtively packed into the lining of a suitcase can be sniffed out by a highly trained dog like Peter in minutes. It would take hours for a human customs officer to open and search through bags before they would find the contraband. 

According to his handler, Peter was loved by anyone who would meet him, aside from those whose undeclared cash or contraband he had sniffed out.

“Whenever you see him, you fall in love with him. He wants to spend time with you and cuddle with you,” he said. “He has a very unique character.”

Peter also has a trophy to prove his popularity. In 2021, Peter was a winner of Malta’s first Animal Awards.

“That was definitely a highlight in our career,” his handler said.

When asked what led to Peter’s retirement, he said dogs are not “machines” and, just like humans, when they are ready to stop working, they do.

Dezerto, the new customs dog. Photo: Karl Andrew Micallef

Teaching a young dog old tricks

Peter’s replacement at the customs department is one-year-old Dezerto, also known as Dez. The happy young Springer Spaniel is full of energy and curiosity, the best qualities any customs dog should have, according to the official customs dog handler instructor, Hilary Fenech.

Fenech said that although, ideally, the dogs’ history and breed are known, any dog can become part of the eight-strong canine unit, if they have the drive.

“We see this when we play a game of ball. When you see the dog’s energy and drive to play and retrieve, that is one of the most important things,” he said.

Labelled ‘green dogs’, the animals begin their training at the age of 11 months and that is when they start training alongside the instructor for 12 to 13 weeks.

Fenech said a dog will learn how to indicate his findings, obedience and who is the leader in the pack.

A normal training session includes Fenech hiding a piece of a toy in concrete blocks or luggage and asking the dog to sniff it out.

“This is all a game, you make sure that the dog is happy whatever he is doing, otherwise he will not work well.”