Dickin Medals

Dickin Medals are the equivalent of a Victory Cross for animals.

Sadie, a Labrador has been awarded the medal for her work in Afghanistan in 2005.

Sadie won it for saving the lives of hundreds of soldiers and civilians by finding a bobby trapped bomb in a pressure cooker which was hidden behind a 2ft thick wall.

The Dickin Medal was created by the PDSA's founder Maria Dicken CBE and the PDSA has a web page on the history of the Dickin medal.

The medal was originally created to reward animals for bravery and devotion to duty during world war 2. From that period the medal was awarded 54 times to 32 pigeons, 18 dogs, three horses and one cat.

On the PDSA website you can read all about the stories behind some of the medals awarded. All the stories are just as fascinating as Sadie's.

There has been some discussion over whether animals have the free will to choose to be brave or not or whether they are just following training. Can they truly go beyond the call of duty.

I have no doubt that dogs, horses and even cats have a sense of loyalty and devotion to their adopted families and friends. At some level they are able to weigh up threats and act appropriately to protect those families.

Where I have doubts is on the pigeons, can they really understand the consequences under which they carry messages. Can they realise the gravity of the situation and make every effort to carry a message back to their home base?

For me the answer has to be no, they follow their homing instinct and head home, they are unable to make any conscious effort to go faster. If they do, it is more by happy chance than judgement.