Boston's Museum of Fine Arts has a new four-footed employee to help battle bugs.
The museum introduced Riley, a 12-week-old Weimaraner puppy that will be trained to sniff out pests that could damage the museum’s priceless works of art.
Riley is owned by Nicki Luongo, the museum's director of protective services, who will also train the pup.
Riley is part of a pilot program that is the first of its kind for a museum.
The MFA already has a series of safety measures in place, but with thousands of people walking the halls every day, the staff felt Riley's strong sense of smell would be a big benefit.
The museum’s deputy director, Katie Getchell, says she doesn’t know of another museum using dogs to find pests.
Riley, who will be going through training over the next year, eventually will be working in private areas of the museum and won’t interact with or be seen by visitors.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
