A traveller returning from Bali fined at Darwin after dog sniffs out McDonald’s.
An Australian backpacker was caught at Darwin International Airport smuggling two egg and beef sausage McMuffins, two pancakes and a ham croissant.
The traveller was returning from Bali, Indonesia when a sniffer dog named Zinta alerted its handlers that the McDonald’s breakfast menu items were in the man’s bag.
The undeclared and at-risk meat resulted in a whopping $2,664 bill for the backpacker.
Since the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) was detected in Bali, authorities had no option but to seize and “destroy” all the food.
FMD is a highly contagious virus that affects hoofed animals including cattle, sheep, goats and pigs.
The Australian farming industry has warned if FMD was transported from irresponsible travellers into Australia it could cost the cattle industry $80billion over a decade as the country would lose its FMD-free designation.
Murray Watt, the minister for agriculture said “this will be the most expensive Macca’s meal this passenger ever has, this fine is twice the cost of an airfare to Bali”.
However, he had “no sympathy for people who choose to disobey Australia’s strict biosecurity measures, and recent detections show you will be caught”.
“Australia is FMD-free, and we want it to stay that way,” he said.
