RANGELEY — On Wednesday, July 9, at 6 p.m. dog trainer Melissa McCue-McGrath will be at the Rangeley Public Library to discuss her involvement with a nationwide citizen science experiment to find out if pet dogs could be used to sniff out invasive species.

In April of 2023, researchers at Texas Tech and Virginia Tech teamed up to run a proof-of-concept study asking if pet dogs could be trained to find one of the most environmentally damaging invasive species, the spotted lantern fly (SLF). SLF is presently in 17 states, including New York and Massachusetts, and leaves the environment looking like “scorched earth without the fire”. It’s predicted to be in Maine by 2026. 

Maine was not initially included in the study, but in November 2023 Maine dog trainer Melissa McCue-McGrath was invited to be part of a second cohort of dogs and trainers to complete the study that winter. Six dogs enrolled in McCue-McGrath’s scent work classes at the Animal Welfare Society in Kennebunk were tapped to represent Vacationland in the study. These dogs, already trained to find a variety of oils on a Q-tip for fun, pivoted their focus to save the environment. After receiving dead SLF eggs from the researchers, the teams got to work. This presentation will describe their experience.

Melissa McCue-McGrath grew up in an accidental sled dog family in Midcoast Maine. She has spent most of her 20 years training dogs and working challenging behavior cases in Boston, Massachusetts. In 2015 she wrote Considerations for the City Dog, a book targeting the urban dogs and families who are left out of conventional training books, and has spoken internationally on the subject. She’s given up the convenience of ride shares to come back home to Maine. Melissa’s family resides with two ancient cats, fourteen bougie chickens, and Captain Love, one of the dogs involved in the study on training pets to detect invasive species.

McCue-McGrath will have live dogs at the library to demonstrate the process they go through. Please call (207)864-5529 or stop by the library to sign up for this free program.