The spaniel and his handler who foiled the Taliban’s bomb makers
THEO the spaniel cross, and latest winner of the Dickin medal, was a star among arms and explosives search dogs making more finds than any deployed in Afghanistan.
Working with his handler Lance Corporal Liam Tasker of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, pictured, time and again Theo saved the lives of troops and civilians by sniffing out improvised explosive devices, arms caches and bomb-making equipment, often under fire.
Tasker would joke that Theo was “impossible to restrain”. Lance Corporal Tasker was killed in action in Helmand on March 1, 2011.
Theo, who was with him, died later that day from an unexplained seizure. Was it the shock of losing his closest companion?
“There’s a great bond between people and animals,” says David Long, “an interdependence that’s not only practical but emotional. As well as saving lives they bring comfort and boost morale.”
This, presumably, is why the military has always favoured mascots.
Bob Sessions, an American rescue worker who witnessed search dogs working tirelessly and unstintingly in the 9/11 rescue and recovery operation, remarked: “If these dogs only knew what a difference they make. There’s nothing that can replace the precision of a dog’s nose – and absolutely nothing that can replace a dog’s heart.”