People of the CBSA : Mandy Ellis's Story — Video transcript

Transcript

My name is Mandy Ellis and I'm a dog handler here at Vancouver International Airport Cargo Operations, and I'm a BSO. My partner's name is Max. He is a very large black lab and he searches for drugs and firearms. Max and I have been a team now for five years. On a daily basis in Vancouver, my partner and I can be seen working on the aircrafts. We can search the cabins and the holds, the bags, as well as the cargo. We can be found inside the terminal searching people in secondary, or around the carousel, the baggage. We're also inside the cargo warehouses searching international cargo coming into Canada as well as being exported. Also searching private aircrafts as well as all the major couriers around the airport.

I started in 2005 and I found it extremely interesting being able to work airside, and seeing some of the cargo that was coming into Canada. I started to work with the dogs as a student BSO and I knew that that was the job that I wanted to have in the future.

I'm extremely proud to say that I'm a BSO as well as a dog handler for CBSA. In Vancouver, we have a huge drug problem with the downtown eastside. From the things that we find here, I like knowing that that's something that I can help with.