How good is Explosives Detection Dog Sarbi? The 12-year-old bomb sniffing dog came out of retirement again to take part in an event to honour animals who have served in combat since World War 1.
The Of Animals In War event at the magnificent Australian War Memorial in Canberra on February 23 was a huge success, but it was Sarbi who stole the show.
“Sarbi enjoyed the attention, but in typical military style, she proudly wore her medals and lapped up the pats from the crowd with little emotion – just a look of satisfaction that she was appreciated for doing her job well,” said Canberra local, Michela Laus.
These gorgeous photographs of Sarbi were taken by Michela’s partner, James Goodwin, who attended the event with their seven-year-old Belgian Shepherd, Sheba.
“As animals lovers we felt it was right to honour the contribution of animals in war time and it was nice to take our own dog, Sheba, along to the service,” said James.
“We live very close to the War Memorial so rather than taking a walk to the park that morning we decided to go to the ceremony. The Memorial really is a true place of reflection. You can’t walk past the honour rolls or one of the campaign memorials in the grounds without thinking of the men, women and animals who have served the nation.”
Michela added that they “knew of Sarbi and her story but hadn’t had the chance of seeing her in person”. Or should that be, in paw-son?
A canine aside. Belgian Shepherds like Michela’s and James’s dog, Sheba, make great explosive detection and military guard dogs. In fact, the dog who took part in the famous raid to capture or kill terrorist Osama bin Laden was a Belgian Shepherd – or Malinois – named Cairo.
No wonder the Explosives Dog Detection unit in the Australian Army have a saying, In Dogs We Trust.
Indeed, we do.
