British sniffer dog who found bodies given national award after death

Many dogs have jobs, from police dogs to seeing-eye dogs to emotional support dogs. But while all working dogs should receive plenty of praise for their actions, it’s perhaps fair to say that some truly go the extra mile.

Dogs who help save lives and uncover bodies to give the families of victims valuable closure are among the bravest hard-working dogs, and certainly deserve plenty of the best dog treats.

And one sniffer dog, who died in May at the age of 14, has received a posthumous award for helping in hundreds of missing person searches during his lifetime.

Barra, a Springer Spaniel, specialized in submerged victim recovery across the UK, and has received an Order of Merit medal from the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA), one of the biggest animal charities in the country. This isn’t the first award Barra has been given, either. It was only a few months ago that he was given a European Animals Hall of Fame Award for his efforts.

His former dog dad, 57-year-old coastguard worker Iain Marshall, is accepting the Order of Merit medal, often described as an ‘Animal OBE”, on Barra’s behalf.

Barra’s parents were police dogs, and worked in Wales, but Marshall took him to Scotland to train him as a rescue dog. It was intended that Barra would work on Scotland’s River Clyde, but he went on to work all around the UK in victim recovery missions. Barra spent 11 years working, before retiring two years ago due to mobility issues.

Marshall said, per Glasgow Live, “When we trained Barra at the start, we thought if we made one find then it would all be worth it. He ended up making his first find when he was still in training on the Clyde. We were just inseparable as we were with each other 24 hours a day. It was a special bond that can never be replaced.

“We never did this for awards and medals. We did this to help grieving families find their loved ones and get that closure for them."

He continued, "It is lovely to see people gather together to show their appreciation even after Barra has passed. It would be lovely to have a statue as he played a huge part in everyone's lives."

Indeed, some of Barra’s fans are calling for a memorial statue to be erected in Glasgow, with campaigner Stef Shaw, who runs the 'Glasgow Cabbie' Facebook page, asking Lord Provost Jacqueline McLaren to approve a statue in tribute to “a dog we believe is possibly the most unique in the history of our nation”.

For more about dogs with jobs, you might find the following article interesting: Seven amazing jobs that working dogs can do. Meanwhile, if you’ve got a working dog and you’d like to give them some tasks, you could take some advice from a fellow dog parent here: I gave my working dog a job and it transformed our relationship.