Good Animals
A SPECIAL SELECTION
Sniffingouttrouble
Sadie, an eight-year-old black Labrador explosive search dog with the Royal Army
Veterinary Corps, became an instant hero when she sniffed out a terrorist bomb
in Kabul, Afghanistan, in November 2005. The device, hidden in a pressure cooker,
had been planted under sandbags yards from where a suicide car bombing had just killed
a soldier outside the United Nations headquarters. Over 200 people, including British,
US, German and Greek soldiers, were within range of the device. Sadie and her handler
Lance Corporal Karen Yardley had been called to check for secondary devices—leaving
‘We’re
all really
proud
of Sadie.
She
saved
lives
that day’
Maureen Gorman
(right) and her
daughter Pamela
with Wallace
a second bomb is a classic terrorist tactic.
The booby trap was discovered when Sadie suddenly “showed
intention” as Karen, 26, took her on a search of the UN car park.
Sadie’s tail wagged vigorously, “enough to break your leg”. She then
sniffed the air, her tail went rigid and she sat down facing the wall.
“I looked at my colleague and he was off running and shouting at
everyone to leave the area,” said Yardley. The bomb was then made
safe using a robot.
“Me and my colleagues are extremely proud of Sadie,” said Karen
after the incident. “She saved lives that day and she certainly saved
my life.” Sadie, now retired, was later awarded the Dickin Medal for
bravery, the canine equivalent of the Victoria Cross. Sean Rayment
BraveheartWallace
If it hadn’t been for a black moggy called
Wallace, Maureen Gorman and her
13-year-old daughter Pamela wouldn’t
have had a cat in hell’s chance of escaping
a house fire.
When bakery worker Maureen from
Carnoustie near Dundee went to a Cats
Protection centre to adopt a stray, Wallace
was the last one she saw. “All the cats were
really friendly and seemed to be saying,
‘Take me,’ ” she recalls. “But Wallace was
COURTESY OF CATS PROTECTION /COURTESY OF PDSA
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