Dog of war: UK Lab fetches medal for bomb-sniffing

Dog of war: UK Lab fetches medal for bomb-sniffing


Treo, a nine-year-old black Labrador from the Military Working Dogs, who is to be presented Wednesday with Britain's Dicken medal, awarded for bravery and commitment in wartime, the highest military honor an animal can expect, poses with the medal at the Imperial War Museum in London, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010. Treo is being decorated for his work sniffing out explosives in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)

By Raphael G. Satter
Associated Press Writer / February 24, 2010

LONDON—A perky British Labrador whose bomb-sniffing exploits helped save lives in Afghanistan was decorated for canine courage in a ceremony at London's Imperial War Museum Wednesday.

Eight-year-old Treo joins a menagerie of heroic animals honored over the years with a special award known as the Dickin medal, including 32 pigeons, three horses and a cat.

Sgt. Dave Heyhoe, the black Lab's handler, said he was "very proud indeed," adding the award was not just for him and his dog but "for every dog and handler that's working out in Afghanistan or Iraq."

Treo merely flicked out his rosy tongue as he and Heyhoe posed for photographs with the silvery medal. He squirmed as the medal was fitted around his neck.

The military nominated Treo for the prize in recognition of his help uncovering a series of Taliban bombs during his time serving in Helmand Province, an insurgency hot spot, in 2008. The Labrador is the medal's 63rd recipient since its inception in 1943, according to the Peoples Dispensary for Sick Animals, the charity that awards the prize.


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