Kitty is one of a handful of highly trained carcass scent detection canines in Australia. She is also one of the most enthusiastic and competent.

Wind farms in Australia must implement bird and bat management plans to monitor, avoid and mitigate impacts they may have on some of these species. This involves searching under turbines, looking for birds or bats that may have collided with turbines. This is where Kitty comes in. Studies have shown that canines are far more effective at detecting carcasses under turbines than human searchers. Nature Advisory has employed Kitty to deliver the highest levels of accuracy to give confidence to the community, government and regulators that this industry is working to the highest ethical and environmental standards.

Kitty and her handlers have been certified in the Canine Detection Certification of Australia. Kitty has been specially trained by Steve Austin, a well-renowned dog trainer who has trained detection dogs for security, quarantine and conservation roles for private and government sectors over the last 30 years.

With her strong sense of smell, Kitty is able to locate bird and bat carcasses (for wind farm mortality searches) or particular threatened flora (to assist with threatened flora surveying). She does this while ignoring other scents and indicates when a target is found by lying down next to the target. Luckily, Kitty is capable of avoiding snakes through special snake proofing training.