Posted on 02/07/2010 8:21:45 AM PST by traumer
An Army search dog that has saved the lives of scores of British soldiers in Afghanistan is to receive the canine equivalent of the Victoria Cross.
Yet as a puppy he was a badly behaved rebel in danger of being put down until intensive Army training turned him into the gutsy canine described by his handler, Sergeant Dave Heyhoe, as the best military dog he has served alongside.
Now Treo is to be honoured with the Dickin Medal from the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals for his conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty.
It will be placed around his neck this month by the charity’s patron, Princess Alexandra.
Treo’s heroics include finding a ‘daisy chain’ improvised explosive device (IED) while working as a forward detection dog in Sangin, Helmand Province, in March 2008.
A daisy chain is two or more bombs wired together and concealed by the Taliban on the side of a path to maximise casualties among soldiers on patrol.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
WOOF !
Amazing!
Does this Soldier get Steak everynight?
Bomb-sniffing lolcat no can haz award.
Muhammad made strange and harsh statements about dogs and these edicts affect dogs in a tragic way. His teachings may have come from cultural bias, Pagan concepts, or his own imagination, but wherever they came from they led to the cruel treatment of dogs.
None of the statements regarding dogs are found in the Quran but they abound in the various collections of traditions (hadith). These traditions are a primary foundation of Islamic theology and are the basis of many Islamic laws. They render dogs as “impure” and worse. Per Muhammad’s orders most dogs were to be killed and all dogs of a specific color (black) had to be killed.
..................
Don’t you just LOVE the irony.
I’m sure the dog would be happier with a nice steak. Give the VC to his trainers and handlers, without whom he is only a great companion animal.
Headline is wrong. The dog is getting the Dicken’s Medal which is the equivalent of the Victoria Cross. If you want to read about the medal go: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dickin_Medal I think a dog a long time ago was given a Victoria Cross but a stink was raised and it was rescinded. This medal was created.
I tried to trace down the story about another dog awarded the VC Airedale Jack http://www.airedaleterriers.org/articles/wardog.html It’s an apocryphal story I spent a year trying to tie it down including talking to the British War Museum and the Sherwood Foresters (they need aprox dates and place to check the war diaries and the story doesn’t contain the info. They wanted the story to be true like I did). The Battersea Dogs and Cat’s Home still carries it as a true story in 1918 http://www.battersea.org.uk/about_us/our_history/
The same thing happened here in the US when a dog was awarded if I remember correctly a purple heart and a silver star. Both were pulled back and during Viet Nam dogs and other animals were changed from members of the unit to equipment. That’s why they are left behind when troops leave and it’s so tough for dog handlers to take their dogs home with them (takes act of Congress to do this. Usually happens when handler has been wounded or the dog has also and it’s part of the rehab and a campaign is mounted).
Was that “posthumously”?
Thank you for the info.
Having owned or been owned by 3 Airedales I really wanted the Airedale Jack story to be true since it’s in character with the breed and they were considered the best all around war dog in WWII by the head of the British War Dog program and also used by the Germans. They used them for guard, messenger and Red Cross Dogs. For the Red Cross work the dogs were sent out on to the battlefield to locate wounded troops with small first aid kit then they brought back a piece of the uniform and lead the corpsmen back to the wounded troops. That was short lived since the Germans shot the Red Cross personnel and Red Cross Dogs (no Geneva Convention). With the messenger dog there were 2 handlers. The main handler was at the headquarters and the second handler in the front lines. The dog was sent back and forth between handlers and had to find it’s own way to the other handler. Both positions were mobile and the dog had to find it among all the other things going on in major battle. How they did it I don’t know. They had their own gas masks and chemical weapons gear as did the horses and mules. It’s pretty strange to see a dog or horse wearing a gas mask. They also had suits against the blister agents like Mustard Gas just like the troops.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.